An Unlikely Friendship
by Greenwood Dancer
Summary: (Now it's complete; I forgot the epilogue) A punk with a bad attitude. A white haired boy who knows what it's like to be new in town. How could two complete opposites become friends? Bakura-OC R&R PLEASE!
1. The Punk

a/n: First chapter of my fic. Hope you like and don't forget to REVIEW!!!  
  
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"Class, we have a new student today."  
  
Bakura's head snapped up. There hadn't been a new student since he himself had arrived.  
  
The teacher gestured for the student to come in and it was all Bakura could do to keep his jaw from dropping in shock.  
  
The girl that walked in had shoulder length black hair with white streaks in it. She had heavy black under-eye liner and black lipstick. She wore a loose black shirt that was threatening to fall off one shoulder and baggy jeans with high top combat boots. A chain was visible around her neck.  
  
"This is Alexandra Moore," the teacher introduced. Alexandra scowled at Miss. Gladradiel, who didn't notice. "Why don't you take a seat next to Bakura in the back there?"  
  
The punk snorted and hitched her backpack higher onto her back as she made her way to the back of the room. Bakura noticed she had a slight swagger. She sat down heavily in the seat next to him and dropped her bag to the floor with a loud clunk. Digging her notebook roughly from it, she put it on the desk in front of her. She was earning a lot of stares, but she didn't seem to notice. Even if she did, she didn't strike Bakura as the type to care.  
  
Alexandra noticed him looking at her and she mouthed, "What?" Bakura quickly looked down at his own notebook. This wasn't exactly the new kid he had been expecting.  
  
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"There's a new girl here," Bakura told his friends at lunch.  
  
"Really?" Tea asked, far more interested in this than her slop that was supposed to be macaroni and cheese. "What is she like?"  
  
"Well," Bakura started.  
  
He looked over his shoulder at the table closest to the cafeteria doors. Alexandra was sitting sideways on the bench, one leg on it, bent, the other hanging off the side. She had a tray of food, but she looked like she was just playing with it.  
  
"That's her over there," he said simply, nodding to her with his head.  
  
The other four teens stared at him.  
  
"That's her? She's... a punk?" Tea asked, stunned.  
  
"She looks dangerous!" Yugi commented.  
  
"I'm going to go over there," Bakura said after watching her for a few seconds.  
  
"You are?" Joey asked. "Why?"  
  
"Because I know what it's like to be the new kid in town. It's not much fun." With that he picked up his tray and walked across the room to Alexandra.  
  
"Hello, is this seat taken?" Bakura asked when he reached her table.  
  
"Nope and it's gonna' stay that way," she said, not even bothering to look at him.  
  
This wasn't the reaction he had expected. He decided maybe he should just sit down anyway.  
  
When she felt extra weight on the opposite bench, she looked up. "What's wrong, are you deaf? I said I didn't want company," she said with a threatening look on his face.  
  
"I think you do. I know what it's like to be new. I was nervous about meeting people too," Bakura said.  
  
"Look, twerp. I don't care if you were new, or if you were nervous. You don't know me, so don't talk to me. Now go away and leave me alone," she said, giving him a warning smile. She leaned her arm on her raised knee and stared at him.  
  
He wasn't sure what to say. He just watched her, stunned, as she rolled her eyes with a loud sigh and got up from the table, grabbing her tray as she went. As she passed the trash cans, she dumped what was left of her lunch and put the tray on top of the pail with the others. She then pushed the cafeteria doors open with attitude and walked through.  
  
Bakura just sat there, his mouth slightly open at Alexandra. Did she really just decline his offer to talk to her?  
  
A few seconds later, however she came back through the doors and came over to him.  
  
"Where's math class?" she asked, folding her arms. She looked annoyed that she had to ask him for directions.  
  
Bakura held back a grin. "Really? That's my next class too!"  
  
"Oh, goody," she said dryly. "Just tell me where it is."  
  
"We can walk together. I was going to head there anyway," he said, doing with his tray the same Alexandra had with hers.  
  
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with," she said, following him out the doors.  
  
"I'm Bakura," he said, extending a hand when they got out of the cafeteria.  
  
"Alexandra. But you'll call me Al or Alex. If you call me by my full name, you die," she said, not taking his hand, but holding up a fist instead.  
  
"R-right," he stuttered, taking a step back. "Um... math class is this way." He looked over his shoulder at her as he began to walk. She caught up with him in a few long strides.  
  
- Great. If the punks here see me with this walking nightmare, I'll never be accepted into their group. I'd be sent to hang out with freaks. Ugh! I've gotta' get away from this creep! - Alex thought as she walked beside Bakura. - When was the last time he got a haircut? -  
  
"Here we are," he said, holding the door open for her. She snorted at him and pulled the door shut behind her before Bakura could get in.  
  
- Well. She's nice, - Bakura thought dryly. He knew she would have to warm up eventually. This was just her way of being nervous. He took his usual seat in the back, which happened to be next to the one Alex had chosen. When she saw him sitting there, she rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically.  
  
"Not you again. What's your problem? Quit stalking me," she said, about to get up and move, but at that moment the rest of the students filed in, followed by the teacher.  
  
"Morning class," the teacher said, leaning against his desk. "Now, some of you may know that we have a new student. Bakura snuck a glance at Alex and saw her put her hand in her chin and exhale heavily in annoyance.  
  
"Alexandra, would you stand please?" Mr. Deranti said.  
  
Alex's eyes blazed at the use of her full name, but she said nothing as she stood. A few people stared with their mouths open, but no one laughed like they had when Bakura had come. He sensed that might have been because she struck them as dangerous.  
  
"Could we have a volunteer to show Alexandra around the school?" Mr. Deranti asked the class, looking around.  
  
"Can I sit now?" Alex asked haughtily, folding her arms.  
  
"Yes," the teacher replied and the punk dropped back into her seat, scowling at him.  
  
No one in the class raised their hand and Alex grinned slightly. She hadn't been here twenty-four hours and people were already afraid of her.  
  
After a few seconds of silence, Bakura raised his hand. Alex snapped her head around to him and glared.  
  
"I'll do it," he said, not looking at her. He could feel her eyes boring into him.  
  
"Wonderful! Alexandra, this is..." Alex cut her own teacher off, taking him by surprise.  
  
"We've met," she said, her arms still folded and slouching back in her seat.  
  
"Even better. Well, let's take roll call."  
  
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Alex tried to escape before Bakura caught up, but she had no such luck.  
  
"Hey, what class do you have next?" he asked, jogging to catch up with her as she practically ran to the door of the classroom.  
  
"Look, it doesn't matter. I don't need your help, all right? You need to get a life and stop bugging me!" she said, beginning to walk down the hall.  
  
"O-okay," he said, slightly confused. He started to head to his own class when he heard Alex call his name.  
  
"Wait! Uh... how do I get to English class?" she asked, looking slightly embarrassed.  
  
Bakura chuckled. "That's where I'm headed too. Come on, I'll walk you."  
  
She sighed and followed him. - Great. So now I'm going to be seen with the walking haystack. What other joyous things could happen to me? -  
  
"Do you mind if I look at your schedule?" Bakura asked her after a few seconds.  
  
"Yeah, whatever," she said, digging in her backpack for it. She shoved a crumpled up piece of paper into his hand and he unfolded it.  
  
He studied it and his eyes grew wide. He pulled out his own schedule and compared them. They were identical.  
  
"We have all the same classes, Alex!" he said, handing her back her schedule.  
  
- Oh no. - "Oh. Great," she said sarcastically. "I get to look at you for the rest of the year. What could possibly be better than that?"  
  
Bakura looked at her quizzically. Why was she being so cold to him? He hadn't done anything to her.  
  
They walked in silence to their next class. He showed her around to each of their classes, and though she wasn't terribly pleasant, she followed him without too much complaint.  
  
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a/n: Okay. So Bakura meets Alex. Alex is a... well, punk. I know what you're thinking. "How could these two complete opposites become friends?" Well, read and I'll tell you... Oh, and reviews are necessary for me to continue. 


	2. A Little Help

a/n: Okay, before I go on, I want to tell you guys something...  
  
I got a review yesterday alerting me about something that I should have made clear. Alex is a punk in my fic and she's got a rather mean attitude. But I want all of you to realize that she's my character and I chose her personality. Not all punks are like that. I just wanted to let you all know that so no wrong impressions were made.  
  
Thanks to my reviewer who told me about this!  
  
Now, on with the show!  
  
  
  
"Would you leave me /alone/?"  
  
Alex couldn't understand why Bakura came over to her table and sat down the next day at lunch.  
  
"Why are you being so cold to me?" he asked, setting his tray on the table. All she did was complain. It was getting on his nerves, but then, he didn't want to just ditch her either. He knew what it felt like to be alone.  
  
Alex snorted. "You gotta' be kidding me. You're an annoying geek who's stalking me. Plus it's just how I am, so get used to it."  
  
"Are you always snapping at people who try to help you?" Bakura asked, his tone slightly more forceful than he intended.  
  
For the first time Alex looked at him with a different expression other than disgust. It suddenly looked... mildly interested.  
  
"What's your deal anyway? When'd you get here?" she asked, folding her arms on the table.  
  
"About a year ago I guess. I was kind of alienated until Yugi and his friends came over to me. They're over there," he said, nodding in the direction of Yugi's table. He would offer to introduce her to them, but this was the first few words out of her that hadn't been too harsh and he was hoping he was making some progress.  
  
She nodded and her face softened a little more.  
  
"So, why'd you come here?" he asked, hoping she wouldn't snap at him again.  
  
"I was expelled from my old school," she said, swirling her spoon through her mashed potatoes.  
  
Bakura sat up straight and stared at her. "E-expelled? Why?"  
  
"Got in one too many fights. Just what happens, right?" she asked, looking up at him without raising her head. She gave a laugh and dropped the spoon. "So why are you bugging me so much anyway?"  
  
"Because I know what it's like to be new. I was once too. I just thought that we might have something in common," he replied.  
  
She chuckled. "And you thought I needed a friend? That I couldn't make it on my own?"  
  
"No! That's not what I meant at all!" Bakura said quickly, but he realized she was grinning absently.  
  
"I know. I'm messing with your head," she replied, looking him dead in the eye. "You're some kind of nice freak... you'd never say anything like that. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out." She sat up straight, a twisted smile on her lips.  
  
Bakura felt himself go slightly red. He knew what she had just said wasn't intended as a compliment, but he wasn't sure what to say about it. She was right in a way.  
  
Alex began to stand and he followed suit, only to be stopped by her putting up a hand.  
  
"Look. You're the coolest geek I've ever met. But you're a geek and I'm a punk. Let's keep it that way, all right? Catch you later," she said, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and leaving the cafeteria without a look back.  
  
Bakura stared after her, somewhat stunned. He had never been called a geek before... well, not like that anyway. He felt he should be insulted, though somehow he wasn't. Sighing, he picked up his tray and dumped it.  
  
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????  
  
Bakura made his way to his locker. His was located right next to Alex's and he had been surprised to see her there yesterday, screaming at the metal closet.  
  
FLASHBACK...  
  
She unhooked the combination lock and put it in her pocket, attempting to open the door. It wouldn't budge.  
  
"What the...?" she started, jerking the door. It stayed firmly in place and refused to open. "Come on you good for nothing, friggin'...!" she spat as she put a foot on the door and pulled.  
  
"Wait," Bakura said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Mine does the same thing."  
  
Scowling, she backed away from the locker. Bakura positioned himself in front of it and gave it a swift kick in the bottom of the door. It swung open easily and he held it open for her.  
  
"Thanks," she grumbled, taking out her things. "What are you doing here?" she asked, slamming her locker shut.  
  
"This is my locker," Bakura said, indicating the one to the right of hers.  
  
"What?" she asked flatly. "Wonderful. I just can't get away from you. You're friggin' everywhere!"  
  
END FLASHBACK...  
  
Bakura grinned at the memory and kicked his locker open. Pulling out a few books and putting some away for tomorrow, he noticed that Alex wasn't there. She had made a fast exit from the class and must have gotten here before him. She was probably avoiding him, though he couldn't understand why.  
  
He closed the door, locking it again. The thought had crossed his mind a few times about why they even bothered locking their doors. If you didn't know to kick them, then you'd never get them open anyway. The only reason he had figured it out was because he had kicked it out of frustration.  
  
He made it down the hall and outside with no sign of Alex. He shook her from his mind and looked instead for Yugi and the gang. Instead he found John.  
  
John was the school bully. Bakura had been lucky enough to escape him most times, but this time he literally ran into him.  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, backing away frantically.  
  
"Watch where you're going!" John replied, shoving the white haired boy backwards.  
  
"I didn't mean to!" Bakura protested as he was shoved again. This time he nearly fell down, only to be caught by his shirt by the larger guy. Bakura squeezed his eyes shut and waited.  
  
Suddenly he felt a hand on his chest that shoved him backwards. He opened his eyes as he stumbled backwards in time to see Alex punch John square in the nose.  
  
"Leave him alone or you'll answer to me," she snarled as John pulled his hand away from his nose, bloody.  
  
"You miserable little..." he started, aiming a punch at her, which she dodged easily. She dropped to the ground and flung her leg out, catching John around the ankles and making him fall.  
  
She stood and put her foot on his chest before he could get up. "Never mess with me, you got that? Because you'll regret it later," she said, taking her foot off of him and walking in the opposite direction, passing Bakura.  
  
Stunned, Bakura stared after her, then followed as John began to stand up. "Hey! Wait for me!" he called.  
  
"What?" she asked coldly without turning back. Her cool attitude was back and it made Bakura feel slightly self-conscious.  
  
"You... you stood up for me. Why?" he asked, now walking beside her.  
  
"Are you complaining?" she asked, still looking ahead.  
  
"No, but you... you told him to leave me alone or else he'd answer to you. Why did you do that?" he asked, still pursuing her.  
  
"You helped me out, I helped you out. Now we're even. Will you leave now?" she asked coldly.  
  
Bakura stopped walking and watched her in disbelief as she left him behind without once looking back. Something inside him wanted to keep after her, but he knew that would be a bad idea. He definitely didn't want to get on her nerves... not after what she did to John. He guessed there had been truth behind what she told him about getting in one too many fights at her old school.  
  
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a/n: Okay, second chapter is up! Please review and tell me whether or not you're liking it!  
  
And please read and review my other fics  
  
Dilemma  
  
No Words To Describe 


	3. Friends?

a/n: Thanx to all who reviewed! Don't forget to review this chapter too!  
  
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"Looks like you've got the hang of the door."  
  
Alex sighed. She didn't have to look up to know who it was standing next to her. "Yeah, whatever."  
  
"Walk with me to class?" Bakura asked.  
  
"Do I have a choice?" she asked dryly.  
  
"Of course you have a choice. I was just wondering if you'd willingly walk with me or not."  
  
"And why were you wondering?" she sneered, looking directly into his eyes.  
  
"I feel like I owe you for yesterday," Bakura replied.  
  
"Well, you don't. Now just go away." She closed the door and began to walk to history class. Bakura sighed and leaned against his locker. Why was he bothering?  
  
"Bakura?" He looked up to see Yugi, Tristan, Joey and Tea standing there with queer looks on their faces. "Are you okay? You haven't been hanging out with us lately."  
  
"I'm okay. It's Alex. She's being very distant," he said.  
  
"Why do you care?" Joey asked. "If she doesn't want to hang out, it doesn't matter."  
  
"I guess so. Just, yesterday she helped me out with John. I kind of feel like I owe her one," he replied.  
  
"Forget about her Bakura. You're just going to annoy her if you keep bugging her," Tristan said. Bakura knew his friend was right.  
  
"Yeah. Well, I have to get to class. I'll see you at lunch, okay?" Bakura and his friends said good bye and headed to their classes.  
  
  
  
Alex sat at her table alone and watched as Bakura sat down with four other teens. She waited for him to come over and bug her some more, but he didn't. He sat with his back to her, laughing with his friends.  
  
She speared a macaroni from her plate and glared at it.  
  
"They call this food," she muttered, dropping the fork. She sighed, looking across the cafeteria at Bakura's table.  
  
Wait. Did she actually want him to come over? She supposed it was possible. No one had ever come over to her on her first day before. No one had ever followed her around, dealing with her attitude. The more she thought about it, the more she began to feel a sort of respect for Bakura. He was very patient, unlike her.  
  
Well, it didn't matter anyway. Not hungry, she tossed her lunch into the trash, putting her tray on top with the others. She started to the doors, but before she opened them, she glanced over her shoulder. Bakura was looking at her and when he saw her turn around, he waved for her to come over.  
  
Alex hesitated for a minute. Then shaking her head at what she was about to do, she started to his table.  
  
"Hi," Bakura said as Alex plopped into the seat next to him. She dropped her backpack to the floor and nodded a hello.  
  
"Guys, this is Alex. Alex, this is Yugi, Tristan, Joey and Tea," Bakura said to her.  
  
"Yo," she said in a monotone voice. She didn't even know why she was here.  
  
"Hi," Tea said, looking at Bakura like he was nuts. He just shrugged, surprised himself that Alex had come over.  
  
"So, um..." Yugi started, not knowing what to say to her.  
  
She looked around the table, all eyes on her and internally grinned. The uneasy looks they were giving her was boosting her ego.  
  
"Don't let me bug you. You can go on with your conversation," she said, a sly grin on her face.  
  
"R-right," Yugi said, turning his head back to Joey, but watching her out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"So, you're coming to the arcade later, right?" Joey asked his friend.  
  
"Um... yeah, yeah I'm coming," Yugi replied, uncomfortable with having a conversation around Alex.  
  
"Do you want to come to?" Bakura asked Alex, making the other four look at him in surprise.  
  
"Nah, I'm gonna' chill in the park. I got something I'm working on," she said, leaning on the table.  
  
"Oh, what are you working on?" Bakura asked, being careful not to aggravate her.  
  
"Project," she said simply. "You gonna' eat that?" She realized she was getting hungry and Bakura's apple was starting to look really good.  
  
He shook his head and handed it to her. She nodded in gratitude and bit into it with a loud crunch. Bakura didn't press the subject of her project, not wanting to get on her bad side. He was very shocked she was being so easy going as it was.  
  
"So you guys always chill together?" she asked.  
  
"Most of the time," Yugi replied, rather stunned.  
  
"And you always go to the arcade?"  
  
Bakura stared at her. This was the most she had ever said to anyone ever since she had gotten there.  
  
"Well, no. We go over to each other's houses too," Tea said and Alex nodded.  
  
She crunched on her apple and grinned at them. "Do you ever do anything interesting? I mean, the arcade's cool, but anything else?"  
  
"We play Duel Monsters!" Joey said. "And enter competitions. In the Duelist Kingdom Tournament I came in second place," he said proudly. "And Yugi here's the best duelist in the world!"  
  
At this Alex seemed mildly interested. But she simply nodded and crunched on her apple. "That's pretty cool."  
  
"You're not very talkative," Tea said and Alex looked at her. Tea thought for a moment she had said the wrong thing, but then the punk began to laugh.  
  
"You haven't seen me when I get started. No one can usually shut me up. Take my silence when you can get it," she said.  
  
At this Bakura grinned. She had a sense of humor! "Looks like you have something in common with Joey," he said. Everyone laughed except for Joey, who glared at his friend.  
  
"Good one," Alex said, mildly surprised at Bakura's comment. She hadn't expected something like that to come out of his mouth.  
  
Bakura stared at her for a second, shocked. Did she really just... compliment him?  
  
"Hey, I gotta' go to class. I'll catch you later," Alex said, bending down to get her backpack and slinging it over one shoulder as she stood.  
  
"Yeah, I'll walk with you. Did you know we have all the same classes?" Bakura asked his friends, trying not to sound to excited about it.  
  
"Are you serious?" Tristan asked, surprised. Bakura nodded.  
  
"Hey, are you coming or not?" Alex asked, hitting Bakura in the shoulder lightly.  
  
"Uh, yeah," he replied, grabbing his own backpack and swinging it over one shoulder. Yugi raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. Bakura usually wore it on both shoulders. "I'll see you later," Bakura said, leaving with Alex.  
  
Suddenly, Alex stopped and looked over her shoulder. "By the way," she said to Yugi. "Cool do."  
  
Yugi stared at her. "Uh, thanks." Bakura raised his eyebrows, surprised. He gave his friend a thumbs up and left with the punk.  
  
"Wow," was all Tea could manage to say.  
  
"Why is Bakura trying so hard to be her friend?" Tristan asked, confused.  
  
"I don't know, but what ever he's doing is working!" Yugi replied.  
  
"Well, she doesn't think he's a punk... Bakura could /never/ pull that off!" Joey said, earning laughs.  
  
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"You seem to get along with your friends real well," Alex said as she and Bakura made their way to science class.  
  
"Uh, yeah... we do," Bakura replied. /She/ had instigated a conversation? Just yesterday she had been cold as ice... what had changed?  
  
The backpack on his shoulder was becoming very uncomfortable and he had to keep hitching it up.  
  
Alex looked out of the corner of her eye and laughed at him. Without warning she reached around and slid the other strap onto his shoulder, evening out the weight. Bakura stared at her, feeling his face begin to grow warm.  
  
"If you can't handle it, don't do it. And don't try to be cool for me. That's pathetic," Alex said. Her face was cold, but her eyes were grinning.  
  
Bakura gave a nervous laugh. "R-right," he stuttered.  
  
"Yo, we're here," Alex said after a few seconds. Bakura nodded and followed her into the classroom, the two of them earning a lot of surprised stares from various students.  
  
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a/n: Alex is kinda' weird, huh? One day she's your friend, the other she doesn't know you. Oh, but that will all change soon enough... keep reading if you want to know! Oh, and the more reviews I get, the faster I post! Soooo REVIEW! 


	4. About Alex

a/n: This chapter gives you a good idea of what Alex is really like. Read and always review...  
  
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Alex sat in the park, leaning against a tree. She held a book in her lap, but she paid it no attention. She watched the birds in the sky and listened to their chirps. It felt so good to be out of that stuffy school. It was a beautiful October day and her leather jacket kept her just warm enough.  
  
Her birthday was soon. Only a few more weeks and she would be seventeen. She couldn't wait. Although, she didn't know what she'd do for her birthday. Maybe she'd just go and chill at the arcade. Catch a movie, take a walk in the dark where there are no houses. She didn't know. She wished she had enough friends to do something big, but she would never tell that to anyone. That was a secret she'd take to her grave.  
  
Running her hand through her black and white hair, she sighed. She was bored. She was beginning to wish she had taken Bakura up on his offer to go to the arcade. Of course, she could always go now, but she'd look really stupid. Looking stupid was not one of the things Alex did often. She was a loner, whether she liked it or not. No one could stand her.  
  
No one except for Bakura. He was strange. He seemed to be trying desperately to be her friend, and it was annoying. Did he like her or something? She shuddered at the thought. The last thing she wanted was for him to ask her out. Gross. But maybe it wasn't that. Maybe he really did just want to be friends. Maybe the only reason he was bothering with her was because he knew what it was like to be alone. Little did he know, she also knew what it was like. More than he knew, or would ever know.  
  
Maybe she should give him a chance. Check out the arcade with him. Maybe give him a few fashion tips. She laughed at the image of Bakura dressed as a punk. So, maybe just a black shirt and pants. It would look pretty cool with his hair now that she thought about it. His hair wasn't /that/ bad, really. It was just... really long. If he'd do something like his friend, /that/ would be cool.  
  
His friends were okay. They were just... boring. That one kid... the one with the cool hairdo... with a little encouragement, he could be fun to hang with. But Bakura's friends were Bakura's friends, not hers. And she didn't want them. Not at all. They weren't compatible with her. Neither was Bakura though. Wasn't she considering hanging with him? So would it really be all too strange to check out his friends too? Maybe she /should/ go to the arcade.  
  
No.  
  
The only reason she was considering hanging with Bakura was because he had perused her and been patient with her attitude. His friends hadn't done anything. Bakura might be worth a shot. His friends weren't.  
  
She sighed, knowing she should take a break from all of her thinking, but what else could she do? She had finished her 'project.' It was an ongoing thing, her project. There was no end to it. It would go on until she got tired of it. Her mother had this project once and now it had become Alex's. It was a stupid thing really, especially for a punk. She looked down at the little black book in her lap. There really wasn't much time to do her project anymore. Once winter came, it would be over. At least until Spring. But until then, what would she do? Without her project to pass the time, what would she do? She hated winter. She hated the snow and the ice. She hated the cold and the wind. There was nothing good about it. Except for maybe hitting people you hate in the face with snowballs. Or iceballs, even better.  
  
What it all boiled down to in the end was that her life was pretty boring. She got up in the morning, went to school, then to the park to do her project, came home and ate dinner and went to bed. If anyone knew how boring her life was, she would be ridiculed. She had nothing to do over weekends. She usually just sat and watched TV or read. Sometimes she'd write hateful poetry about life and how it sucks, but then she'd rip it up and throw it away. She never wanted anyone to know what she wrote about.  
  
Some days she'd be so bored, she'd lie on her bed and stare at the ceiling, making patterns out of the ripples in the paint. She came up with a lot of things, but her favorite was the dagger that she could always find easily. Every now and then she'd have daydreams about that dagger becoming real and just falling into her, through her. Then she'd realize that her chest really did hurt and she'd have to take a pain pill. She had grown out of that habit though... it used to scare her mother.  
  
When she first learned about her daydreams and her pains, she would run down to her mom and cry about it. Keep in mind she was about eleven, though. She'd never do that now. Her mother had been so worried. Alex had seen a psychiatrist for a while about it, but when everyone realized it wasn't doing any good, she stopped seeing him. It turned out it was just from a memory. A painful memory that when she thought about a dagger piercing her chest, it felt like it actually had.  
  
Here she was again. Thinking. About everything and nothing all at the same time. People wonder if that's possible, but it is. Alex knows that well. She'd replay all the moments of her life sometimes. One day it would be all the good. The next, all the bad. All the painful ones. The few times she had cried. She hadn't shed a single tear in three years and she was proud of it. She intended to keep it that way. When she had cried, no one had ever been there to witness it. To everyone's knowledge, she was a cold hearted girl who couldn't feel pain or sadness. Or happiness. But the truth was, she had nothing to be happy about. How can someone laugh for no reason at all? Who could do that? Laugh at nothing?  
  
Possibly Bakura.  
  
He seemed just that type of person. To laugh for no reason. To help people out just for the fun of it. Just to know he had done something worthwhile that day. It was a rare time that you found someone like that. Now she had. Was she going to take that chance? Or let it slip by like the rest of her life? Was she going to let the chance to have a good and loyal friend by her side walk on by without a look back? Was she going to look back one day and ask, "Was /that/ my life?" No. She needed to live life when she had it. She had to jump at what might be her only chance at a friend at this school. If she let it go by, what would happen? Would she be a loner for the rest of her life? She loved being by herself, but there were times where she wished for company. Now she had an opportunity to have that company. Was she going to take it?  
  
"Alex?"  
  
She jumped and looked up, squinting against the sun. She didn't see the speaker until he sat down beside her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked, genuinely surprised.  
  
"I was walking back from the arcade. I have to pass the park to get home. You said you'd be here, so I thought I'd stop by. You don't mind, right?" Bakura asked.  
  
"Nah, you can chill with me," Alex said, leaning her head against the tree. She was going to take the chance. The chance of being hurt... again.  
  
Bakura smiled. For once, he felt relaxed with her. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the book in her lap.  
  
"It's a book," she said without looking at him.  
  
"What's it about?" he asked, keeping his patience.  
  
Alex smiled internally. If someone responded like that to her she'd probably sock them. She didn't have Bakura's patience at all.  
  
"It's not," she replied. Should she show him? Should she show him one of her weaknesses? Just hand it to him for him to ridicule? Allow him to tell his friends about it so they could make fun?  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.  
  
She didn't answer right away, but Bakura waited. She turned her head toward him and looked into his kind brown eyes. Something about him made her trust him.  
  
She looked down at the little black book and let it fall open. Between each of the pages was a pressed flower or leaf.  
  
Bakura leaned over her shoulder to see and his eyes widened. "This is your project?" he asked softly.  
  
Alex closed the book and her eyes went cold. "Keep your insults to yourself," she snarled.  
  
Bakura sat up, surprised. "No! I think it's great," he said, making Alex stare at him, her jaw threatening to drop. "Can I see?"  
  
Stunned, Alex handed him the book and he began to flip through the pages carefully.  
  
"It must have taken you a long time to get all of these," he said as he came across a rose and a rose bud.  
  
"Yeah, it did," she replied. Bakura was sharing her interest in pressed flowers? Or was he pretending? It didn't even matter to her. Anyone else would mock her for it. But he wasn't.  
  
"You don't have many more pages left," he said, handing the book back to her.  
  
"I don't have many more days left of nice weather either," she replied. Soon it would be winter. Horrible, bitter winter.  
  
"I wish it could stay Fall forever. I can't stand winter," he said, leaning back against the tree. Alex stared at him. "What?" he asked, noticing her look.  
  
"I... I hate winter too," she said, somewhat confused. Could it be that Bakura was similar to her? He didn't hate the winter for the same reason she did, but he hated it. Was there more they had in common?  
  
"Really?" he asked. His face looked surprised for a second, but then it subsided into a pleasant smile.  
  
"Yeah," she whispered. She hadn't meant for it to be a whisper, but it didn't seem to bother him.  
  
"I don't really have a hobby," Bakura said, staring into the sky along with Alex.  
  
"This is my only one," she said, fingering the book.  
  
"It's more than I have," he said softly.  
  
"No, you have much more than me," she said, without thinking.  
  
He looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"  
  
Realizing what she had said, she quickly checked her watch. "Hey, I gotta' go," she said, standing.  
  
"I should probably go too," Bakura said, getting to his feet as well.  
  
They said good-bye and began to walk in the same direction.  
  
"You... live down here?" she asked, pointing down the road, shocked.  
  
"I could say the same for you!" Bakura gave a slight laugh and began to walk again.  
  
Alex followed, stunned. How could she have missed this before? How could they be so different on the surface and so much alike underneath?  
  
They walked in silence, but it was a pleasant silence. One you wouldn't expect Alex to be a part of. A silence that you would find between... friends.  
  
A few minutes later, Alex turned up a driveway and went about halfway before turning back to Bakura, who was watching her leave.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow. I'll have to," she said, for the first time hoping he caught it as the joke it was.  
  
He laughed. "Right. Bye Alex," he said, beginning to walk further down the road, but not before waving.  
  
"Hey, Bakura!"  
  
He turned, surprised.  
  
"I'm diggin' your necklace," she said. Bakura touched his Millennium Ring and looked up at her. In the red glow of the sun he thought he saw something on her face that resembled a grin.  
  
"Thanks," he said with a smile. Then the two turned away from each other and went home.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
a/n: Who knew they had so much in common? I know, I know, how /cute/, right? Well, that's how I wanted it. Review please and I'll continue. (There may be more cuteness, I'm not sure) 


	5. Fight Back!

a/n: I got a load and a half of good reviews for last chapter. Lets see if I get this many for this one...  
  
I'm so sorry I haven't updated! I have been out of town for a whole week!! *cries* But I'm back now, soooo...  
  
  
  
Bakura entered his room and closed the door behind him. He couldn't get what had just happened out of his head. He touched his Millennium Ring and smiled.  
  
Those had been the first words out of her mouth that had seemed true. Honest and from her heart. He hadn't known she had so much in common with him. He had never expected that little black book to contain what it did. Not if /she/ owned it.  
  
Her heart wasn't completely ice as he had first thought. Something told him she wasn't how she appeared at all. Something about that time they spent in the park said she was hiding things... emotions. Something about her tone said that she wanted a friend, no matter how much she denied it. He was going to be her friend... he already was.  
  
She had been kind to him for the entirety of the day. And then at the park... that seemed to seal it. There was something behind the black clothes and makeup. He had seen in her eyes pain and sadness. And hope. A faint glimmer of hope as she looked at him. Just before she showed him her project.  
  
Her smile after she complimented him on his Ring had seemed genuine. The first genuine smile he had ever seen on her face. It had made him feel so good inside to see it. Through all the attitude, she was a good person. Bakura could feel it.  
  
##################################################################################  
  
"Yo."  
  
Bakura looked up from his locker the next morning to see Alex give hers a kick. He thought he she looked happy to give it a good kick.  
  
"Hi," he replied with a smile that she didn't return. He was fairly shocked she had even said hello without him saying it first.  
  
"We got English, right?" she asked, digging through her locker.  
  
Bakura nodded. "Yes. And then science." He looked around her door to see stuff piled in it in such a manner, it reminded him of what under his bed had looked like a number of years ago. "How do you find what you need in there?"  
  
"I like mess. I know exactly where everything is. I hate it when... mom... cleans my room. I can never find anything," she said, faltering before she spoke of her mother. She closed her locker and began walking to class.  
  
Her pause had confused Bakura, but he didn't bring it up. Instead, he followed her to class.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Alex slipped into her usual seat by the cafeteria doors and dropped her tray on the table, making her food jump. She grinned slightly, then went back to glaring at her macaroni and cheese. It looked disgusting, and she wasn't sure why she even bothered taking it. She wasn't going to eat most of it anyway.  
  
She glanced up at a table across the room. Yugi, Tristan, Tea and Joey sat there, laughing and talking. She knew she wanted to be over there with them, but she didn't move from her seat.  
  
She looked around the cafeteria and saw five girls sitting at a table by themselves. Alex didn't have to be anywhere near them to know they were the preps. She groaned and imitated them in her mind.  
  
- Like, so you wanna' go to the mall? -  
  
- Totally! -  
  
- Like, yeah! -  
  
Yuck. Alex couldn't stand preps, she never could. At her old school, she had punched the leader of the group, causing her to be expelled. Of course, it wasn't the first person she had hit that year.  
  
"Hi."  
  
Alex looked up as she heard a tray connect with the table.  
  
"Yo," she replied, resting her chin in her hand and chasing a macaroni around the plate with her fork.  
  
"Are you all right?" Bakura asked.  
  
"I am /so/ bored," Alex replied with a sigh. "I hate it inside. I'm going out," she stated, picking up her tray and moving toward the doors.  
  
Surprised for a second, Bakura did the same.  
  
The two had to pass by the preps' table and Bakura immediately regretted it.  
  
"Aw, look. The nerd has a crush on the freak," one of them said while the others snickered.  
  
Alex dropped her tray onto their table and turned to them, fire in her eyes.  
  
"Alex..." Bakura started, but she ignored him.  
  
"You know, it's girls like you that got me expelled from my old school," she snarled, holding up a fist.  
  
The preps laughed. "Oh, I'm so scared! Julie, hide me!" One of the girls grabbed onto Julie's arm and the five of them cracked up.  
  
Infuriated, Alex brought her fist back to hit Julie, but Bakura caught her arm. She saw Julie wince and jump back slightly. Luckily, Bakura managed to catch her other arm as well and keep her from doing any damage.  
  
Breathing heavily, Alex wrenched herself from his grip and spun on her heel, grabbing her tray on the way out the doors. Bakura picked up his own tray once more and followed her out.  
  
Alex was leaning against a tree with her tray in front of her and she was fuming. Cautiously, Bakura came over and sat down beside her.  
  
"Why didn't you let me hit her?" she asked after a second.  
  
"Because what she said didn't equal a punch in the face. Words don't hurt anything except an ego," he replied.  
  
She stared at him like he was from outer space. "You have /got/ to be kidding me. You were just going to walk off and let her say that stuff. And you would have let John knock your brains out! You seriously have to stand up for yourself!"  
  
"I'm not going to use violence to do it!" Bakura said.  
  
Alex got to her feet with a roll of her eyes and stood directly in front of him. "Hit me."  
  
Bakura's eye's widened. "What?"  
  
"You heard me. Come on! Give me your best shot," she replied, taking a step back.  
  
He stood and stared at her. "You're joking, right?"  
  
"I hardly ever joke," she replied. With that, she shoved him into the tree.  
  
"Ow! What was that for?" he cried, rubbing his shoulder. He backed up around the tree as she took another step forward.  
  
"Are you going to let me get away with that?" she asked, shoving him again.  
  
"Alex! What are you doing?" he exclaimed, trying to catch his balance, only to be pushed again.  
  
"Come on! Are you going to let /me/ beat you up?" she asked, forcing him backwards.  
  
"Come on... stop!" he said.  
  
"Aren't you going to do anything about it? Are you going to get beaten up by a /girl/? What'll your friends think? Come on! Fight back!"  
  
"Alex, that hurts!"  
  
"Well?" she cried, pushing him harder. "Are you going to take this?"  
  
Surprising himself, Bakura shoved her hard and she stumbled backwards a few steps.  
  
"Yeah!" she cried. "That's it!" She pushed him, grinning. "Fight back!"  
  
Bakura did the same to her and she once again cheered him on.  
  
"Yeah! Come on! Are you going to let me humiliate you in front of your friends?" she exclaimed, coming at him again.  
  
"No," he said, returning her shove.  
  
"That's pathetic! Are you going to take this?" she cried.  
  
"No way!" he exclaimed, his face breaking into a grin as they pushed each other back and forth.  
  
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))  
  
"Um, Yugi?" Tea asked. She stood at the doors that led outside.  
  
The gang had watched Bakura stop Alex from hitting one of the preps and had seen them go outside. Now, Tea stood at the doors and watched as the two of them shoved each other back and forth. She would have thought they were fighting, except for the grins on their faces.  
  
"What is it, Tea?" Yugi asked, coming up with Joey and Tristan.  
  
"What's he doing?" she asked.  
  
Yugi looked through the window along with the rest of them and watched for a few minutes. "I... don't know," he said, confused.  
  
"It looks like they're kidding around... sorta'," Joey said, tilting his head to the side.  
  
"I've never known Bakura to kid like that!" Tea said, looking at the boys.  
  
"I don't know," Yugi said, watching as Bakura shoved her again, making her lose her balance and fall to the ground. Then they both began to laugh.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
a/n: Yay! I've been waiting to get this chapter down. Now it's here for all of you to read! Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of it.  
  
P.S. If I get enough reviews for this fic, I may post a sequel... ^_^ 


	6. An Afternoon

Bakura fell to the ground as well and they both lay there, looking at the sky. He looked over at her to see her still grinning and he smiled as well. That had been the first time she had laughed or smiled full out.  
  
Alex sat up as the bell rang. Immediately her smile faded. "I /hate/ school," she grumbled as she stood. She turned and extended a hand to Bakura to help him up.  
  
Surprised, he took it. He was halfway up when she let go, causing him to fall again. It hurt, but to hear her laugh he supposed it was worth it. He got up on his own and laughed with her.  
  
"Come on, we wouldn't wanna' be /late/ now would we? Some geeks have a reputation to uphold," she said, hitting him playfully in the arm.  
  
"And you don't?" he asked, rubbing his arm.  
  
"Yeah, I got a reputation. But it's nothing like yours, that's for sure!" she said with a grin as the reentered the cafeteria.  
  
They followed everyone out and walked to their next class.  
  
"So, I've been thinking," Alex said after a few minutes. "You wanna' chill at the arcade later?"  
  
Bakura looked at her, shocked, and didn't see the girl open her locker door in front of him. He crashed into it, sending Alex into a fit of laughter.  
  
"Oh! Are you okay?" the girl asked him, closing her door.  
  
Bakura nodded painfully, holding his nose. He stole a glance at Alex, who was practically falling over she was laughing so hard. He gave a small laugh and looked at his hand. It wasn't bloody thank Heaven. He felt his face go slightly red, especially since passersby were giving him and Alex strange looks.  
  
"We... we'd better get to class," he said, touching his nose one last time.  
  
"Y-yeah, okay," she said through laughs. "Try to watch where you're going this time."  
  
"That wasn't funny," he said, but he also was grinning.  
  
"The only thing that would be funnier would be if the cheerleader pyramid collapsed in front of the entire school!" Alex said.  
  
- That would be pretty funny, come to think of it, - Bakura thought, picturing it. But their conversation had to end because they arrived at the classroom.  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
"So, your running into the locker... was that a 'yeah'?" Alex asked. She was leaning against the school, talking to Bakura.  
  
He looked at her quizzically for a moment, then remembered what she was talking about.  
  
"Oh, uh, yeah," he said.  
  
"Cool. Let's go," she said, hitching her backpack onto her shoulder.  
  
They began to walk down the street to the arcade when they heard someone calling for Bakura.  
  
He turned to see Yugi, Tea, Tristan and Joey. He waved and they ran down to him and Alex.  
  
"Hey, uh," Yugi started, looking at Alex. She sighed and shoved her hands in her pockets.  
  
"We were wondering if you were coming to the game shop with us," Joey said.  
  
"Oh, uh..." Bakura said, glancing at Alex.  
  
"Hey, it's cool. Go. I don't care. I'll catch you later," she said, starting toward the arcade.  
  
"Alex! Wait! Sorry guys, I already said I'd go to the arcade with Alex," Bakura told them.  
  
Alex stopped, but didn't turn back. She quickly wiped the smile off her face.  
  
"Oh, uh, right. Maybe tomorrow then," Yugi said.  
  
Bakura waved good bye and ran to Alex's side.  
  
For once in her life, she didn't know what to say. This had never happened to her before. But she snapped out of it quickly, clearing her throat and saying, "So, are you ready to get your butt kicked at those games? I'm the queen you know."  
  
"I'm pretty good at some of them," he replied.  
  
"Well, I'm going to wipe the floor with you, you just wait!" she said with a grin.  
  
They laughed as they crossed over a bridge.  
  
"I usually chill at the arcade on my birthday. You wanna' come then?" she asked him. It would be the first time in three years she had invited a friend on her birthday.  
  
"Okay. When's your birthday?" Bakura asked.  
  
"The thirty-first," she replied, looking proud.  
  
He stared at her for a second. "The thirty-first of /this/ month? Halloween?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah. Cool, huh? I'll be seventeen," she said with a grin.  
  
Bakura looked at her, surprised. - Maybe that's why she's so weird, - he thought. "Yeah, I'll be there," he said.  
  
Alex looked away from him at the stores they were passing so he wouldn't see her smile.  
  
Bakura put his hands in his pockets and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He figured what she was doing and smiled to himself.  
  
They reached the arcade a few minutes later and Bakura held the door for her. She snorted and closed it behind her before he could get through.  
  
- I should have known she'd do that, - he thought as he let himself in, a light tinge of color in his face.  
  
"Yo, Bakura!" He looked around and saw Alex standing by one of the fighting games. (a/n: I don't know what they're really called)  
  
It figured she'd choose the game he was the worst at. He sighed and walked over to her. They dug in their pockets for coins and pushed them into the slots. They chose their fighters and started the game.  
  
In the first round Alex blew him away. He didn't look at her as the next round started. He did better in this one, but she still won, declaring her as the winner of the game.  
  
Alex laughed and looked at him. "You suck at this," she said and he blushed.  
  
"I'm better at air hockey," he said, trying to regain some of his dignity.  
  
She snorted. "Who isn't good at air hockey? But, I'll give you a shot. This'll be easy," she said as they walked to the air hockey table.  
  
They took their positions and began. Alex hit the puck towards Bakura and he blocked his goal easily, sending it back at her. She hit it with a /thwap/ and it shot across the table, only to be shot back at her. They went back and forth a number of times before Alex finally scored.  
  
"Hmmm... not bad," she commented as Bakura scored.  
  
Bakura breathed in relief as they hit the puck back and forth some more. Alex scored two more times, bringing the score up to [3/1]. It was a good number of minutes later before Bakura hit the puck into her goal.  
  
The game went on and Alex was only in the lead by one point. This was the longest air hockey game she had ever played. She had to admit to herself that Bakura was good.  
  
[9/9]  
  
Alex and Bakura were tied. The next shot would win. It had gotten to the point that Alex was nervous every time he sent the puck her way. She couldn't lose now after all that boasting she had done. That would be complete humiliation.  
  
He almost scored, but she managed to hit it away, breathing in relief. Bakura shot it at her again and she sent it straight into his goal.  
  
- I won! Yes! - she cried in her head. "Good game. That's the longest one I ever played," she said calmly.  
  
"Me too," Bakura said, coming around the table to her. She leaned against it and looked at him.  
  
"So, now what?" he asked. While they had been playing, the arcade had filled up with kids and teens.  
  
"Let's ditch this place," she said over the noise. "It's too crowded."  
  
"Sounds good to me," Bakura replied as they made their way to the door of the arcade.  
  
Once outside, they looked at each other. "Now what?" they asked in unison. They started laughing and didn't stop for a good few minutes.  
  
When they had regained control of themselves again, Alex checked her watch. 3:35.  
  
"Mom's still out with David, so you wanna' come over my place? We can study for that math test we have tomorrow with out her barging in," she said with a shudder. "I hate math."  
  
Bakura laughed. "It's not so bad," he said with a smile as they began the walk to her house. "Unlike some other subjects, numbers always stay the same. They never change, no matter which way you look at them."  
  
"But it's so /boring/," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Especially when the teacher drones on and on and on and on."  
  
Bakura laughed. "She does talk a little too much," he agreed.  
  
"Are you kidding? She'd put a hyena to sleep," she said. She grinned as he laughed again. It had been a long time since she made someone laugh.  
  
They walked the rest of the way in silence, every once in a while catching the other's eye and laughing.  
  
Alex opened the door to her house ten minutes later. "My room's up here," she said, leading him up the stairs.  
  
Bakura felt his face flush as he followed her. Pushing evil thoughts out of his mind, he entered her room. Her walls were covered with posters of singing groups he didn't know and her room was dark with only a lamp on at the moment. Bakura shoved his hands into his pockets and he felt himself go a brighter shade of red as he watched Alex go to the light switch. The room lit up and he turned away from her to hide his face.  
  
He heard a loud thump as she dropped her backpack to the floor. "Well, are we going to study or are you just going to stand there all day?"  
  
He turned to her to see her spreading her stuff on out on the bed. He sat on the end of the bed and began to pull out his books.  
  
Alex looked up at him for a second before bursting out laughing.  
  
"What?" Bakura asked, looking at her.  
  
"Good God, you're acting like I'm going to /kiss/ you or something!" she cried, laughing harder.  
  
Bakura blushed again and his eyes widened. "N-no.. that's not..." he stuttered. He stopped when he noticed Alex gasping for breath. He folded his arms and looked at her. - It's not /that/ ridiculous an idea, - he thought indignantly. "All right, it wasn't that funny," he said.  
  
"Whatever," she said, shaking her head. "Anyway, let's get this math stuff over with."  
  
"Right," Bakura replied as they bent over their books.  
  
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a/n: Wasn't that cute? lol Okay I'll shut up now. Anyways, REVIEW!! And I'll post the next chapter... *waves page in front of reader's face* 


	7. Meet Jade

Studying was pretty uneventful except for the few times when Bakura would lean over Alex's paper and say, "That's wrong."  
  
"Shut up," she would reply. But she'd always go back and fix it.  
  
On one problem Bakura had to actually show her step by step how to do it in order to get the right answer. That was after he didn't let her get her calculator.  
  
"You suck," she had said. He only grinned.  
  
A little while later, Alex's door burst open. Both she and Bakura snapped their heads up to see a young boy come bounding in.  
  
"Hey Alex!" he said, coming over to her and giving her a hug. "Who's this guy?"  
  
"What'd I tell you about knocking you little twerp?" she asked with a smile as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and tousled his brown hair.  
  
"Hey! Cut it out!" the boy said, laughing and pushing her away.  
  
"Bakura, this is my little brother, David," Alex said.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Bakura," David said, extending a hand.  
  
"Nice to meet you too," he replied, shaking the younger boy's hand.  
  
"Now, get outa' my room before I come after you!" Alex said, grinning.  
  
David laughed and backed up a bit. "You're in a really good mood! Was your math teacher fired?"  
  
Bakura and Alex both laughed. "I wish I could say that was it!" she said. She made a face at the thought of her teacher.  
  
"I've got tons of math homework to do," David groaned.  
  
"Hey, we should start an anti-math club," Alex said.  
  
"Yeah!" her brother exclaimed. Bakura grinned as they hi-fived.  
  
"Go get started with your homework, okay?" Alex said.  
  
David made a face. "Yeah, okay." With that, he left the room, closing the door behind him.  
  
"He's a cool little kid," Alex said, going back to her math.  
  
Bakura nodded, though she couldn't see him. He was seeing a whole new side to her and he was glad.  
  
*******************************************************************************************************************  
  
"Jade! Jade, you'll never guess what!" David exclaimed, plopping onto the couch next to his mother.  
  
"Then tell me," Jade replied with a smile.  
  
"Alex is /laughing/!" he cried.  
  
A new look came over Jade's face. "W-what?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah! She's studying with some guy... uh... Bakoda I think," he said. He was practically jumping on the couch in happiness and a wide smile was on his face.  
  
Jade put a hand over her mouth and ran up the stairs. She stood outside Alex's door and listened.  
  
"Teachers suck! I can't stand any of them! It's beyond me how preps can have crushes on some of them." Jade could almost feel Alex's shudder.  
  
She heard a boy laugh. "They're even worse when they go on and on about things you never even wanted to know in the first place!" he said in a British accent.  
  
"Yeah, like math!" They both laughed and Jade pressed her hand harder against her mouth to keep from crying. It didn't help much, though. Soon, tears of joy were streaming down her face.  
  
It had been three years since Alex had even smiled let alone laughed. The only one she didn't snap at had been David. Now she was laughing like nothing had ever happened. It was such a wonderful sound to Jade's ears. She had been trying for years to get Alex to smile, but all she would do was throw insults and snap. But now she wasn't.  
  
Jade quickly wiped the tears off her cheeks and opened the door. The smile was off Alex's face a second after she saw Jade. Her mother felt her heart break, but ignored it.  
  
"What do /you/ want?" Alex asked, glaring over Bakura's shoulder. He turned and smiled at Jade.  
  
She gave him a grateful smile in return, then spoke. "So, who's your friend?" she asked.  
  
Alex rolled her eyes. "Bakura. Bakura, this is my mother."  
  
"Call me Jade," she said, shaking Bakura's hand. "It's nice to meet you."  
  
"You too," he said.  
  
"Yeah, okay /mom/, now you know who he is. Don't freak, we're just studying, okay? Will you leave now?" Alex said with a fake smile.  
  
"Why doesn't Bakura stay for dinner?" Jade asked, looking at him.  
  
Bakura looked surprised, then looked at Alex. She shrugged.  
  
"Whatever. What are we having?" she grumbled, glaring at Jade.  
  
"Is pizza all right?" she asked happily despite Alex's attitude.  
  
"Sure," Bakura said with a smile. "Thanks."  
  
"Yeah, fine," Alex replied.  
  
"Great. I'll call you when it's here, okay?" Jade said, leaving and, like David, closing the door behind her.  
  
Alex made a face at the door before going back to her homework.  
  
"You don't get along with her well, do you?" Bakura asked.  
  
"What was your first clue?" she said.  
  
"She seems nice," he said.  
  
"That's because you don't know her. She's a control freak and loves to humiliate me in front of my friends. Trust me, she's awful," Alex said, looking at him briefly.  
  
They didn't say anything more until Jade called them for dinner.  
  
"Well, it's about time!" Alex said, slamming her book shut and pulling her bedroom door open. She jumped onto the banister and slid down, her foot stopping her from hitting the knob at the end. Bakura grinned and walked down the stairs.  
  
Jade had just come into the room and looked away to hide her own grin. She had only seen Alex do that a few times. She had stopped after her foot slipped and she slid into the knob. She had to stifle a laugh when she remembered Alex's face.  
  
She had sat on the banister for a few seconds, face screwed up in pain. Jade had rushed over and asked her if she was all right and her daughter's reply had been, "I'm cool. It doesn't hurt, really." She had barely gotten the words out because her throat had been so tight. But she didn't cry. In fact Jade couldn't remember the last time she had seen Alex cry. It was something she didn't do often.  
  
Soon they were all seated at the table helping themselves to pizza.  
  
"How's it coming with your homework, Alex?" Jade asked in an attempt to strike a conversation.  
  
"Fine. It's math. I hate math," she growled.  
  
Bakura nearly choked on his glass of water and Alex glared at him.  
  
"Well, maybe if you tried harder at it you'd find it isn't as hard as it looks," Jade said and Bakura could practically feel Alex's anger.  
  
She was about to respond, but because Bakura was there, she didn't. She took a bite of her pizza and glared at Jade.  
  
"So, how long have you two known each other?" Jade tried again.  
  
Alex gave an exasperated sigh. "Since I started at Domino High," she snarled.  
  
"Oh! Is he the one you came home complaining about?" Jade asked, then realized she had said the wrong thing. "I... I mean..."  
  
Alex glared daggers at her, then looked quizzically at Bakura, who was laughing. "What are you laughing at?" she asked, confused.  
  
"Yes, that was me," he said. "I was assigned to show her around and she wasn't exactly thrilled."  
  
Jade breathed in relief that she hadn't insulted him. "So when did you start hanging out?"  
  
Alex and Bakura looked at each other. "Today," he said.  
  
"Oh," Jade said. "You're the first friend Alex has had in a while."  
  
Before he could respond, Alex stood up. Fire blazed in her eyes as she spoke. "Jade, why don't I help you with the dishes?" she snarled.  
  
"There's really not many, but thanks for offering," Jade replied.  
  
"Now," Alex said. Jade stood as her daughter began to come around the table to her.  
  
"All right," she said, following her daughter into the kitchen.  
  
As soon as they made it into the other room, Alex rounded on Jade.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" she cried.  
  
Bakura heard her and turned around in his seat. Why was Alex yelling? As far as he could see, Jade hadn't done anything wrong.  
  
He couldn't hear Jade's words, but Alex's were crystal clear.  
  
"You know full well what I mean! You want to know why I don't have friends, it's because of you!"  
  
Bakura's eyes widened. He turned to David, who was sitting across from him. "Do they do this often?" he asked.  
  
"Every minute of the day," David replied while folding his arms on the table and leaning his forehead against them.  
  
Puzzled, Bakura turned back around as Jade's voice sounded.  
  
"Now wait just a minute!" she cried. "Don't go blaming me for your mistakes!"  
  
"Why don't you just stay out of my life? You are always trying to tell me what to do! Well, it's my life, so deal with it!" Alex said.  
  
"I'm aware it's your life Alexandra!"  
  
"Then why don't you leave me alone?"  
  
"Fine. Go off with your boyfriend and I'll leave you alone." Bakura felt his face flush at Jade's words. But he went an even deeper red at Alex's reply.  
  
"/What/ did you say? He is /not/ my boyfriend! I'd /never/ date /him/! That is so gross!" She screeched.  
  
Bakura frowned slightly, a bit insulted. Then Jade's voice sounded.  
  
"Don't you hit me Alexandra! I am /not/ a prep, do you understand?"  
  
"Well, you sure act like one!" Alex screamed.  
  
Bakura turned to see David slide out of his seat and go into the kitchen.  
  
David ran into the kitchen to find Jade holding onto Alex's arms to stop her from hitting her. He went over to Jade and pulled on her sleeve.  
  
"You're ruining my life!" Alex screamed.  
  
"Jade!" David said urgently, tugging harder.  
  
"What, David?" Jade snapped looking at him. Alex wrenched herself from her mother's grip and glared at her.  
  
"Bakura and I can hear you in the other room!" David hissed.  
  
"Now look what you've done!" Bakura heard Alex cry. He watched her storm out of the kitchen, through the dining room and up the stairs. He stood up to follow her, slightly nervous. If she'd try to hit her own mother, what would she do to him?  
  
He began up the steps when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Jade with a solemn look on her face.  
  
"Y-yes?" he asked, trying to slink away from her.  
  
"At least you can make her smile," Jade said, taking her hand away and looking at the floor.  
  
Bakura stared at her for a second, unsure of what to do. Luckily, Alex saved him.  
  
"Well, are you coming?" she snapped from the top of the stairs.  
  
He nodded hurriedly and practically ran up the stairs with one look back at Jade before disappearing into Alex's room.  
  
Jade walked over to the couch slowly and sat down. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.  
  
#########################################################################################  
  
Alex slammed the door behind Bakura and he jumped slightly. She kicked the door hard, then got even madder when her foot started to sear with pain.  
  
"I can't believe her! She makes me want to hit something!" Alex cried.  
  
Bakura stumbled backwards a few steps and held up his hands. "N-not me!" he stuttered.  
  
Alex looked up at him and gave a small laugh. "What makes you think I'd hit you?" she asked with a smug look.  
  
He felt color surge through his face as he tried to make his throat form words. "Uh... well, n-no," he tried and was relieved when she laughed.  
  
"You are so weird," she said, dropping onto the bed, her arms folded. "I don't know why I'm hanging with you."  
  
"Uh... I don't know either," Bakura said, thinking about it for a second. He sat down on the bed, but couldn't bring himself to look at her.  
  
Alex sighed and picked up her schoolbook again. But she quickly closed it again and threw it to the side. "I can finish that in English," she said.  
  
Bakura grinned and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He watched her flop back on the bed and he found himself wondering what she'd look like without all her black makeup.  
  
Alex turned her head and saw him looking at her. "What?" she asked giving him an odd look.  
  
"N-nothing," he said, turning his head away, feeling a blush come over him.  
  
Alex rolled her eyes and sat up. "God. Look. How much did you hear between me and Jade?"  
  
"Pretty much all of it," he replied, looking at her.  
  
She ran a hand over her face and sighed. "That's how it always is with us. We're always going at it. Sorry I got you in the middle. You never should have come over. That was a mistake." She stood up and started to gather her books together.  
  
"What do you mean?" Bakura asked, confused.  
  
Alex sighed again and looked at him. "Look. My house is real confusing." She opened her mouth to say more, but then closed it again.  
  
"Yes?" he asked.  
  
Alex walked over to her window and leaned on the sill. "Jade was right. When she said... that I haven't had a friend in a long time."  
  
Bakura got to his feet and stood beside her. "That's all right. It's actually sort of an honor for me."  
  
"Huh?" Alex said, genuinely confused. "You mean you... don't mind hanging with me?"  
  
Bakura looked shocked at her question. "Of course not!"  
  
Alex looked back out the window to hide a smile. "You doing anything on Saturday?" she asked.  
  
He looked at her, a bit surprised. "Uh, no."  
  
"You wanna' hang at the mall? We have /got/ to get you a new wardrobe," she said, eyeing his outfit.  
  
"What's wrong with my clothes?" he asked indignantly.  
  
She snorted. "What /isn't/ wrong with them?"  
  
He considered it a moment. "All right. You can choose my outfit on Saturday, if I can choose yours."  
  
This time she laughed outright. "Yeah, right. I'm not wearing anything a guy tells me to."  
  
Bakura felt color come into his face. "No, that's not what I meant. I figure what you're going to pick for me, so I thought maybe we could switch places or something."  
  
"What, you mean me dress like you and you dress like me?" she asked.  
  
"Uh, sort of."  
  
"I guess so. As long as I don't have to buy anything," she said with a shrug.  
  
"Deal," he said, extending his hand.  
  
She shook it and said, "But so help me, if you try to put me in lingerie, that'll be the last thing you ever do."  
  
"R-right," he said, trying to push the mental image out of his mind. - I really didn't need that, - he thought.  
  
She didn't notice his blush as they headed downstairs.  
  
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a/n: Okay, next chapter, next Saturday... so review and I'll post. 


	8. Jade and Carly

a/n: Told you it'd start next Saturday. It's just not from Alex or Bakura's point of view...  
  
##################################################################################  
  
*Ring*  
  
Jade sighed and tried to get off the couch. She was weary from having stayed up all night. She and Alex had argued yet again the day before and no matter what Jade did, she couldn't stop thinking about it. Why did Alex hate her so much? What did she ever do?  
  
*Ring*  
  
She fell back onto the couch from having her knees buckle. It had been a long while since she had gotten a decent night's sleep and it was starting to show.  
  
*Ring*  
  
She managed to drag herself to the phone and she picked it up halfway through it's next ring. "Hello?" she asked.  
  
"Jade? You sound awful!"  
  
Jade laughed. "Gee, thanks," she said. Her best friend, Carly, was on the other end.  
  
"What happened?" Carly asked.  
  
"Nothing," she replied, rubbing her eyes and trying to wake up fully.  
  
Carly sighed. "You and Alex have another fight?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Why don't you come grab some coffee with me? It's Saturday, we can chat, okay?"  
  
"Okay. I'll see you in a few minutes," Jade said, yawning.  
  
"Are you going to be all right on the road, Jade?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll see you, okay?"  
  
"Right. Bye."  
  
The best friends hung up and Jade pulled herself off the couch. She went up the stairs, looking at her watch as she went. 11:46 a.m. Alex's door was open and she wasn't inside. Jade remembered her leaving earlier. The slam of the door had woken her up slightly. It was a usual occurrence for Alex to leave without saying anything. She'd come back when she felt like it. She always did. Jade had learned the hard way that Alexandra could take care of herself.  
  
Then a sinking feeling came into her stomach. She quickly washed up and changed, then ran outside to find the driveway empty.  
  
"Alex!" she screamed. That was so like her. To take the car without worrying whether or not Jade would need it. Jade stormed back inside and grabbed the phone.  
  
"Carly, can you pick me up? Alex has the car," she grumbled when her best friend picked up.  
  
Carly laughed halfheartedly. "Sure. I'll be right there, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, bye."  
  
Jade dropped the phone back down and went outside to wait. She sat on the stoop and shivered as a cool breeze blew against her face. A few minutes later, Carly pulled up in her pickup.  
  
"Hop in stranger!" she called and Jade grinned despite herself. She got into the passenger side and Carly backed out of the driveway.  
  
A few minutes later, she looked at Jade quickly. "God, you look as bad as you sound. You really have to get some sleep."  
  
"Carly, I am. I'm fine," Jade replied, rubbing her eyes.  
  
Her best friend pulled up in front of the coffee shop and turned off the engine. "Come on, we'll talk more inside."  
  
Jade nodded and got out of the car along with Carly. They entered the shop and got a table. They ordered cappuccinos and sat in silence for a second.  
  
"Jade, Alex is just going through a lot. She's a teenager who's rebelling. You went through it once too, remember?" Carly said.  
  
"No. I never went through what Alex has," Jade replied, staring at her cappuccino.  
  
Carly sighed. "Maybe not, but she'll warm up eventually."  
  
"She hasn't in three years. What makes you think she'll warm up now?" Jade asked.  
  
"Jade, listen to me. Alex..." she started, but Jade interrupted.  
  
"Carly. I wanted to tell you something. Something about Alex."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You remember me telling you about that guy she came home complaining about?"  
  
"Yeah. Let's see, it was something like: 'There was this freak that was stalking me at school today!' right?" Carly laughed.  
  
Jade chuckled. "Something like that. Yesterday, they were studying together."  
  
Carly's eyes widened. "Well, that was... unlike Alex."  
  
"Yeah. But... she was... laughing, Carly. She seemed happy. Like she had before anything happened."  
  
At this Carly choked on her cappuccino. "She was? With that guy?" She started to grin.  
  
"Well, yeah. I... what are you grinning about? You should have seen the way her expression changed when I walked into the room," Jade said gloomily.  
  
Carly wiped the grin off her face quickly. "Right. Well, that's expected. You're her family. Of course she'd go to a friend first."  
  
"I know that. But, still," Jade said.  
  
"Look. You should just be happy that she found someone /she/ can be happy with."  
  
"I guess so. I am happy for her I guess. It was the first time in three years I heard her laugh. It was nice," Jade said with a smile.  
  
Carly's grin came back. "So, tell me about this Bakura."  
  
Jade stared at her. "Uh... what do you want to know?"  
  
"Is he cute?" she asked, grinning.  
  
"Carly!" Jade cried, horrified. "He's seventeen!"  
  
Her best friend laughed. "Not me! I mean from Alex's point of view! Does /she/ think he's cute?"  
  
"How would I know? She doesn't tell me that stuff," Jade said with a shrug.  
  
"Hon, she doesn't have to. He got her to laugh, right? There's got to be /something/ about him she likes."  
  
"Okay. From the two seconds I spent with him, I know this much. He's sweet, polite, kind, knows how to get dressed and he combs his hair in the morning. These are not the qualities of a guy Alex would go for. I mean, the last guy she crushed on had a bright orange mohawk!" Jade cried. Both of them shuddered.  
  
"Well, I don't know what to tell you," Carly said, taking a sip of her cappuccino.  
  
"I wasn't asking you to tell me anything. I was the one telling you!"  
  
"Jade, everyone knows that when you tell someone something you want advice," Carly said.  
  
Jade rolled her eyes and muttered, "Not /every/ time."  
  
"By the way, you said Alex had the car this morning. Do you know where she went?"  
  
"Of course not. She never tells me where she goes," Jade grumbled.  
  
"Do you think she's with Bakura?" Carly asked, grinning.  
  
Jade raised an eyebrow. "It's possible I suppose. Why?"  
  
"You obviously trust this guy," Carly said.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"What does it usually mean, Jade?"  
  
"No way. Alex would never do that. And... I don't think Bakura would either," Jade said flatly.  
  
"You know her better than I do. That's really weird though for her to be friends with someone so different from her."  
  
"Yeah. If you looked in the dictionary under 'opposite,' you'd see pictures of Bakura and Alex," Jade said with a laugh. They giggled, then finished their coffee.  
  
"I'd better get home. I really shouldn't leave David alone at the house for too long," Jade said, standing.  
  
"Yeah, you might come home to find the house in ruins, right?" Carly replied as they headed towards the car.  
  
"Now you're getting him confused with Alex," Jade joked. They laughed as Carly started the engine.  
  
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a/n: A little more info on Jade. As you've probably figured out by now, she and Carly tell each other everything. Jade's really upset about the fact that Alex doesn't like her and Carly's the only one she'll tell. But why does everything start three years ago? Read to find out... of course, it won't be for many more chapters yet. So, review and I'll post... 


	9. The Mall

Alex got up Saturday morning to her alarm clock. It took her a second to realize what day it was because she tried never to get up earlier than one on weekends. Then, she remembered why she was getting up. She was going to the mall with Bakura.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Why'd I agree to go this early in the morning?" she grumbled, looking at her clock. 11:01. "This is ungodly for a weekend. Bakura's out of his mind."  
  
But she got up. Of course, she did walk into a wall on her way to the bathroom, causing her to hit it with her fist.  
  
"Teach it to mess with me," she muttered, still half asleep. She closed the door to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face to wake herself up. She shivered, now fully awake. She glared at her reflection in the mirror. Her messy black and white hair was in her face and at the moment she wasn't wearing any make up. She scowled and went to get dressed.  
  
She dug through her closet and found a black shirt with a few tears in one sleeve. She hooked chains onto her jeans and ran a comb briefly through her hair.  
  
Grabbing her make up, she went back into the bathroom. After she had finished, she slid down the banister and grabbed the car keys on the way out the door.  
  
She got into the car and started the engine. A few seconds later, she pulled into Bakura's driveway. She honked the horn and waited.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
Bakura had just put on his Millennium Ring when he heard a car horn blare. He jumped and blushed as his dad called up the stairs.  
  
"Bakura! Your friend's here."  
  
"Right. I'll be down in a minute," he replied, quickly grabbing his comb and running it through his hair. - Alex is here? I thought I was going to pick her up. -  
  
He heard her honk the horn again and decided he should go downstairs.  
  
"Bakura - there you are. Go, before she breaks my eardrums!" his father joked.  
  
"Right. Bye, I'll see you later," he said, heading for the door. He opened it and stared at Alex. She was leaning out the window of a Tempo.  
  
"Well, are you coming?" she called to him.  
  
"Y-yeah," he replied, getting in the passenger side. He just looked at her as she backed out of the driveway.  
  
She noticed him watching her and laughed. "Don't worry. My driving is improving. It's been an entire week since I've hit something." Bakura's eyes widened and she cracked up. "I'm kidding, good God! Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you."  
  
They drove in silence and Bakura found she was actually a pretty good driver. He felt sort of stupid for doubting her.  
  
"Jade won't need the car today?" he asked, trying to break the silence.  
  
She laughed. "Well, if she does, too bad, right?"  
  
"Didn't you ask her?"  
  
"Nope. Never do. Saturdays are when she hangs out with her best friend. If she needs to go somewhere, Carly will pick her up," Alex said, turning into the mall parking lot.  
  
"Oh," Bakura said.  
  
Alex parked and they got out. They entered the mall and Alex turned to Bakura.  
  
"I choose for you first," she stated.  
  
"All right," Bakura said. That was what he had expected. He followed her into a store with his hands in his pockets.  
  
She walked over to a rack and started looking through it. Bakura just sort of stood there, feeling kind of stupid. After a few seconds, he decided to go to another rack and look. Suddenly, he felt something being thrown at him. He managed to catch it, but he looked like an idiot while doing it.  
  
Alex laughed. "Try that on," she told him.  
  
"What is it?" he asked, trying to figure out which way it went.  
  
"It's a shirt you moron," Alex laughed, hitting him in the back of the head on her way past him.  
  
"Oh. Well, it could have fooled me," he muttered, heading towards the changing rooms, still trying to figure the shirt out.  
  
He finally figured out how to put it on and looked at himself in the mirror. "She's not very good at judging size," he said to himself. It was about three sizes too big and he felt like he was wearing a tent.  
  
He jumped as he heard a knock on the door. "Are you ready yet?"  
  
Bakura opened the door to see Alex. "It's too big," he said.  
  
"Duh," she said, throwing another black piece of clothing at him.  
  
"Huh?" he asked, confused. But she closed the door, leaving him to change again. "She has weird taste," he muttered.  
  
%%%%%%%%  
  
Alex walked through the store, looking for anything else that might catch her eye. She ran across a hat rack and she found a black baseball cap.  
  
"Bingo," she said, taking it down. This was fun.  
  
She walked back the changing rooms and knocked twice on Bakura's door. "You ready?"  
  
"I think I need a smaller size," he said through the door.  
  
"They're supposed to be big," she replied.  
  
"No, they won't stay up," he replied.  
  
"That's the idea, Bakura. You're just used to dressing like a geek. Open the door."  
  
"Are you kidding?" he asked.  
  
"Bakura, that's why the shirt is so big. Would you open the door?" she asked, knocking again on the door.  
  
"And you were worried about me choosing something absurd for you," he muttered, but he opened the door. He was holding his pants up around his waist and the legs were bunched up around his ankles.  
  
Alex sighed and rolled her eyes. "Bakura, if they don't fall all the way down, they're fine."  
  
He let go and his pants slid to his hips. He felt himself go slightly red.  
  
"See, they're fine. Put on your necklace," she told him.  
  
He gave her an odd look as he picked up his Millennium Ring from the floor. He put it around his neck and Alex turned him around to the mirror.  
  
"Huh? Hey!" he exclaimed as she shoved the baseball cap on his head backwards. She wrapped her arm around his neck as best she could; it was slightly difficult for he was a number of inches taller than her.  
  
"/Now/ you look cool," she said with a grin.  
  
"No, now I look ridiculous. Can I change back into clothes that fit now?" he asked, looking at her.  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Fine." She left, closing the door behind her. Bakura sighed as he began to change again.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Bakura opened the door and hung the other clothes back on racks and put the hat back. He found Alex waiting by the entrance to the store.  
  
"Finally," she said when he came up to her.  
  
He smiled and said, "My turn now."  
  
"Yeah, but remember what I said," she said, pointing a finger at him.  
  
"Right," he said, once again having to push a mental image out of his mind. He shoved his hands in his pockets again and tried not to blush.  
  
After a few minutes, he led her into another store. He heard her groan as she followed her in and he suppressed a laugh.  
  
When they got to a rack, Bakura looked at her for a few seconds.  
  
"What?" she asked, spreading her hands.  
  
"I'm trying to decide what size you are," he replied.  
  
"Oh, good God."  
  
He decided on 'small' and looked through a rack. He pulled out a deep purple sweater and handed it to her.  
  
She, however, didn't take it. Instead, she glared at it. "It's purple," she said.  
  
Bakura laughed. "I'm glad to see you're not color blind," he said.  
  
"No way I'm wearing that."  
  
"It'll look good on you."  
  
"I don't wear purple."  
  
"I'm deciding what you're supposed to wear," Bakura said.  
  
Alex opened her mouth to say more, but instead, closed it and snatched the sweater out of his hands. With a glare, she walked to the changing rooms. Bakura looked after her, a victorious smile on his face.  
  
He began to look for a pair of pants and soon found one. They were blue bellbottom jeans and he figured she'd fit into them. He headed for the changing rooms and knocked on her door.  
  
"It's too small," she said through the door.  
  
"Could you get it on?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, but..."  
  
"Then open the door."  
  
He heard her sigh and the door flung open. The sweater fit her well and Bakura was surprised to see she actually had a nice figure. He immediately pushed that thought out of his mind and blushed.  
  
"It... fits you fine," he said, focusing his eyes on her face and forcing them to stay there.  
  
"I can't breath," she said, looking at him.  
  
He laughed and handed her the jeans. "Put these on."  
  
She raised an eyebrow at what she now held over her arm. "I'll try," she said, closing the door.  
  
Bakura waited outside the door and watched people go in and out of the store. A few seconds later, Alex opened the door. He looked at her and felt his face flush again.  
  
"You... look nice," he said. She raised an eyebrow.  
  
"They're cutting off my circulation," she stated.  
  
He laughed and led her over to the mirror. She stared at her reflection, horrified.  
  
"Oh, my God. I look like a prep."  
  
Bakura laughed again. "Alex, with that hair, you could never look like a prep."  
  
She touched her hair and tilted her head to the side as if considering it. "Can I go change back into clothes I can breathe in?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
She gave him a fake smile as she closed the door to the room again. Bakura once again waited outside it for her. A few minutes later, however, he heard a loud crash from inside the room and he winced.  
  
"Alex? Are you okay?" he asked, trying to hold in a laugh.  
  
"I'm... fine... stupid... shirt..." she said, her voice muffled. He suspected she was halfway through taking it off when she got stuck. He backed away from the door so he could laugh without her hearing him. He came back up to the door with as straight a face as he could manage. But before he could say anything, something flew up over the top of the door and landed in his arms.  
  
"God, I was beginning to think I'd never get that off," Alex said. Bakura felt himself go beet red as he took a closer look at what he was holding.  
  
He stood there for a minute, unsure of what to do. A few minutes later, she came out of the room and took the shirt from him as if nothing had happened. She hung it up and stuck it on a rack on her way out the store. When she realized he wasn't behind her, she turned around.  
  
"Well, are you coming?" she asked.  
  
"Uh... y-yeah," he stuttered, forcing his legs to move. he was very aware of the blush that was growing deeper as the seconds passed.  
  
"You okay?" she asked as they headed towards the exit of the mall.  
  
"Yeah," he replied quickly, looking away from her.  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "Whatever," she said.  
  
"Well, um, that was... fun," Bakura said.  
  
Alex raised an eyebrow. "I guess."  
  
There was silence for a few more seconds.  
  
"Um, we could go see a movie," he tried.  
  
"Can't. David gets home from his friends' about this time. I gotta' get home and baby-sit him. If I don't, Jade will kill me. It sucks having to what she tells me."  
  
"Oh. Right." Why was he disappointed?  
  
They got into the car and she started the engine.  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
  
Alex pulled into his driveway a little while later.  
  
"Guess I'll see you in school," she said.  
  
"Yeah. See you later," he said. He hesitated a second before getting out of the car. He waved over his shoulder as he entered his house.  
  
Alex sighed and backed out the driveway and headed for her own house.  
  
When she got home, she hung the keys up on the hook by the door as usual. "David! I'm back!"  
  
She turned into the kitchen to see Jade and her jaw dropped in fury.  
  
"What are /you/ doing here?" she cried.  
  
"This is where I live," Jade replied.  
  
"So, you mean I /could/ have gone to the movies? Instead I came home to take care of David to find /you/ here?" she exclaimed.  
  
"I'm... sorry?" she said.  
  
"I don't believe this. Just so you know, you ruined my entire afternoon... again."  
  
"Why, what movie were you going to go see?" Jade asked, folding her arms.  
  
"I don't know, but I don't care! I told Bakura no because I had to baby-sit David. But I obviously could have gone, right?" she snarled.  
  
Jade's eyes widened. "You told /Bakura/ no? He asked you out?"  
  
Alex hit her in the arm and shrieked, "As friends you idiot! I'll be in my room. Don't bother me if you want to live."  
  
With that, she stormed up the stairs to her room.  
  
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a/n: Okay, so that's how the day at the mall went. Was it up to your expectations? You can tell me by REVIEWING!!! Thanx! 


	10. Sick Day

a/n: Let's see, can I say any other stupid stuff in my author's notes? Hmmm... probably, but if I really say that stuff, I don't think my readers would ever come back. So, I'll just shut up and get on with the fic.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Bakura kicked his locker open Monday morning and was surprised not to see Alex there as well. He shrugged it off, though, as he gathered his things and headed to class.  
  
He took his seat next to Yugi and they waved hello as the teacher entered. Bakura noticed the seat to his right, which was usually taken by Alex, was empty.  
  
The teacher called for their attention and read the role call. Alex's was the last name he called.  
  
"Alexandra has called out sick today," he said. "So could I have a volunteer to drop off her homework at her house?"  
  
Bakura raised his hand and said, "I pass her house on my way home, so I'll do it."  
  
"Excellent. Now..."  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Alex sat on her couch, watching TV. Well, sort of. She was flipping through all the channels quickly looking for something to watch. She'd been through all the channels nearly five times already when she heard a knock on the door.  
  
"Who's /that/?" she moaned. She coughed and her head hurt. "God," she said as she got up and made her way to the door. She pulled it open and stared at Bakura. "What are /you/ doing here?" she asked, genuinely surprised. She coughed again, turning her head to the side.  
  
She wasn't wearing any makeup and her hair was loose around her face. Despite the fact that her nose was red from constant blowing, she looked beautiful to Bakura.  
  
"Hello?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his face.  
  
He became aware of reality again and blushed. "Uh... I was... bringing you your homework," he said.  
  
She sighed and took it from him. "I'm sick but do they care? No, of course not. They still give me the homework to add to my misery," she grumbled.  
  
Bakura laughed and said, "You don't look that bad."  
  
She raised an eyebrow. Without warning, she grabbed his hand and put it against her forehead. "Believe me, I'm that bad," she said.  
  
His eyes widened as he took his hand away. "What's your temperature?"  
  
"102," she said, coughing again.  
  
"You shouldn't be walking around," he said, concern on his face. "Why didn't Jade get the door?"  
  
"Because Jade's not here," she said, rubbing her temple. "Blast this headache."  
  
"What about David?" he asked, surprised.  
  
"At a friend's. Why?" she asked.  
  
"You're this sick and you're here alone?"  
  
"My God, you make it sound like I'm dying," she said, coughing again.  
  
"Come on, go sit down," Bakura said, moving past her into the house and closing the door.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked incredulously as he began to guide her to the couch. "You're going to get sick!"  
  
"No I won't," he said, sitting her down. "Here, put this on," he said, wrapping the blanket from the back of the couch around her.  
  
"/What/ are you doing? I'm not cold!" she said, trying to throw it off.  
  
"You may not think so, but it won't hurt you," he said, holding it on her shoulders.  
  
She stared up at him like he was from outer space. "Are /you/ feeling okay?" she asked.  
  
He laughed and said, "I'm fine. When was the last time you had something to eat?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"When was the last time you had something to eat?" he repeated.  
  
"Lunch," she said slowly. "What...?" she said as he headed into the kitchen. "Where are you going?" she asked, leaning over the back of the couch to watch him leave the room. She turned back around and leaned against the couch as she coughed again. Furrowing her brow, she wrapped the blanket tighter around her, realizing Bakura was right.  
  
- What's he doing? - she thought. She heard him opening a can and figured it out. "Bakura!" she called. "I can do that myself! Would you just go?"  
  
Bakura didn't reply and Alex gave an exasperated sigh which resulted in another coughing fit. - I think /he's/ sick! -  
  
A few minutes later, he came back in with two bowls of soup. He set one down in front of her and sat down on the couch.  
  
Alex stared at his bowl. Jade had always made her soup when she was sick too. But she never had it as well. Now she was confused. "What are you... why are you...?" she asked.  
  
He looked at her, confused as well. "What?" he asked.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.  
  
"Because this is what friends do," he said with a smile.  
  
She stared at him, unsure of what to say. "Uh... right," she said slowly, directing her attention to her soup. She stirred it around with her spoon and stared at it.  
  
Just then, the phone rang. Alex started to get up, but Bakura stopped her.  
  
"I'll get it," he said. He got up and picked up the receiver. "Moore residence," he said and Alex snorted. She immediately wished she hadn't, though, because she started coughing again.  
  
"Who's this?" a female voice asked on the other end of the line. She sounded confused.  
  
"Bakura, who's this?" he replied, equally confused.  
  
"Jade," Alex and the voice said in unison.  
  
"Oh, hi," Bakura said.  
  
"What are you doing there?" Jade asked.  
  
"I was dropping Alex's homework off, but she has a really high fever so..." he started but Alex cut him off.  
  
"Do /not/ tell her you're taking care of me 'cause you're not!" she said, pointing a finger at him.  
  
"How high a fever?" Jade asked.  
  
"102," he replied and Alex nodded with a roll of her eyes.  
  
"Tell her she can go out with Rick," Alex said with an exasperated sigh.  
  
"What?" Bakura asked her.  
  
"The only time she calls after work is when she wants to assess my situation to see if she can go out with Rick. Tell her I'm fine and to go," she replied, coughing again.  
  
"Um..." he said, slightly confused.  
  
"Alex, that is not the only reason I call!" Jade said.  
  
"Uh, Jade says that's not the only reason she calls," Bakura repeated, feeling very uncomfortable with where this was going.  
  
"Yeah, right," Alex replied. "Then why is she asking so many questions?"  
  
"Why don't you talk to her?" Bakura asked, starting to move the phone, but Alex stopped him.  
  
"I don't want to talk to her," she said, folding her arms.  
  
"...Right," he said, now both confused and embarrassed.  
  
"Um, /hold on a minute,/" Jade hissed to someone on her end. "Bakura?" she asked.  
  
"Yes?" he asked.  
  
"Um, are you staying there until I get home?"  
  
"Yeah," he said.  
  
"Uh, /just a minute!/" she hissed to the person on her end. "Do you mind staying a few more hours? I have someplace I'd like to go. But if it's a problem I could come home," she added quickly.  
  
"No, I don't mind," he said truthfully.  
  
She sighed in relief. "Thanks Bakura. I'll be home around eight, is that okay?"  
  
"That's fine. We'll see you then," he said. "When will David be home?"  
  
"I'll pick him up on my way home."  
  
"Okay. Bye," he said, hanging up. He was slightly surprised to find himself feeling immensely happy. "She said she had to go somewhere so she'll be back around eight," he said to Alex as he sat down.  
  
"She's going out with Rick," she said distastefully.  
  
"Maybe it has something to do with work," he suggested.  
  
She gave him a sideways look. "She's a waitress."  
  
"Oh," he said, unable to come up with anything else.  
  
"She works lunches so she can be home at a reasonable time and stuff." Alex coughed as she moved her spoon through her soup.  
  
"You should really eat that," he said, looking at her.  
  
"Did you learn this from your mom or something? Is this what she does?" Alex asked.  
  
Bakura's smile faded slightly and he looked at his own soup. "My mom's dead," he said quietly.  
  
"Oh," Alex said, unsure of what to say now. "Well, that sucks," she said as sympathetically as she could manage.  
  
"It happened a long time ago, though," he said, brushing it away quickly.  
  
There was silence for a second. "Yeah, both my parents are dead," Alex said softly.  
  
Bakura looked at her quizzically. "But I thought Jade..."  
  
"Jade's my sister," Alex said, looking at him. "She's twenty-three."  
  
"Oh," he said. "I'm sorry," he said, trying to think of something.  
  
"Why'd your mom die?" she asked, not looking at him.  
  
"A broken heart I guess. A while after my little sister was hit by a car," he said.  
  
Alex stared at him for a second. Now he was the one stirring his spoon through his soup and staring at it. "That really sucks," she said.  
  
"Yeah," he replied.  
  
There was silence for a few more seconds.  
  
"Did you witness it?" Alex said softly.  
  
"What?" he asked, looking at her.  
  
"Did you see her get hit?"  
  
"No, why?" he asked, confused.  
  
"You're lucky," Alex said.  
  
"What do you mean? How did your parents die?" he asked. She didn't say anything, but instead stared at her soup. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he said.  
  
"No," she said quickly, but quietly. "I want to. My dad was kind of a... a drunk I guess. But he never usually hit my mom or anything. He just yelled and acted really stupid. Anyway, about three years ago I guess, I was home with my mom. Jade was at college and David was at a friend's. Dad was... somewhere, I don't know where. It was December and I was looking out my window at the snow when I saw dad pull up. I didn't go downstairs to say hi; we weren't very close. Actually, I wasn't close with anyone in my family except for maybe David. Anyway, he came inside and started yelling at my mom. That was common in my house. They hardly ever got along, big surprise, right? I remember feeling that something wasn't quite right though, so I went down and sat on the stairs and watched. I don't remember what they were fighting about this time, but dad pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket. I watched him shoot my mom, then blow his own brains out."  
  
Bakura sat there, horrified.  
  
"I freaked big time and I had to see a psychiatrist for a while. Jade quit college and came to take care of me and David. That was when I started getting weird. My friends ditched me and stuff so I was kind of a loner. Well, more than kind of, I was. Anyway, anyone who got in my way, I hit, as you probably could have figured out. The last person I hit was the leader of the preps. She ran crying to the principal and I was expelled. That's when I came to Domino High. You know the rest," she said. Her voice was quiet and just above being monotone.  
  
"That's... awful!" he said.  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "What would I ever do without you to state the obvious?" she asked dryly.  
  
"I thought I had it bad," Bakura said.  
  
"You do. You lost your sister. I only lost my parents. I couldn't stand them anyway. Just their choice of death wasn't exactly what I had in mind. If I lost David, I don't know what I'd do," she said. Alex suddenly realized how much she was telling him and stopped. She sat up straight and cleared her throat. "Well, so now you know."  
  
"I don't know what to say," he said, looking at her.  
  
"Then don't say anything," she said. She coughed and put her hand to her forehead. "God, this headache's killing me."  
  
"I'll get you some Aspirin if you tell me where it is," he offered.  
  
"It's in the bathroom cabinet."  
  
He got up to get it and she looked after him. He was being so... sweet. She hated that word, but it was the only one to describe him right now. It had been a long time since she had actually felt like someone cared about her.  
  
He came back shortly and handed her the small bottle. She took two pills out and swallowed them without water.  
  
"Oh," Bakura said, somewhat surprised. "I would have gotten you some water..."  
  
"I do that all the time," she said, waving it away.  
  
"Oh," he said again. He felt stupid that he couldn't think of anything else to say.  
  
They finished their soup in silence and he picked them up and put them in the sink. He heard Alex turn on the TV and start flipping channels. He came back and sat down beside her on the couch.  
  
"You'll never find anything if you keep flipping so fast," he said.  
  
"I know what I want to watch by the first second of the show," she replied.  
  
"They don't even have a chance to talk!" he laughed.  
  
"What, can you flip better?" she challenged, pausing a second to look at him.  
  
"Actually, yes," he said, reaching for the remote. She pulled it away from him and scooted to the end of the couch. She then resumed her channel surfing.  
  
"Why don't you go to the TV guide?" he suggested with a laugh.  
  
"Because I don't feel like it," she said, attempting to snap but failing.  
  
Now Bakura was sure she was doing it just to annoy him. With a grin, he scooted over next to her and grabbed the remote out of her hand in one swift movement.  
  
"Hey!" she cried, reaching for it. He tried to move away from her, but lost his balance and fell back on the couch. He held the remote as far away from her as possible and laughed as she tried to grab it. "Give it back!" she cried, leaning over him for it. "It's my house so you have to do what I say!"  
  
He laughed and put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her away. He looked at her reaching for the remote, her hair falling around her face, and he suddenly didn't want to push her away anymore. He paused for a second and she noticed him looking at her.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
He went furiously red and suddenly wanted to be out of the situation. He gave her once swift push and, because she was weak from being sick, she fell off of him against the arm of the couch.  
  
"Hey!" she cried as Bakura sat up, the remote in his hand. "Fine," she said, folding her arms and doing her best to glare at him. He just grinned back.  
  
He began to flip through the channels, though much slower than Alex. He soon saw why she was flipping so fast. It was because there was nothing on and she already knew what was on all the channels. He glanced at her. She was asleep, her head slightly to the side.  
  
Bakura set the remote down on the coffee table and stood in front of her for a second, assessing whether or not she was truly asleep. When he decided she was, he gently lifted her off the couch. He carried her up the stairs and lay her down on her bed. He then brought up the blanket from the couch and threw it over her.  
  
Bakura looked at her for a few seconds, not wanting to leave. Slowly, he ran his hand gently along her cheek. He smiled at her, then left, closing the door behind him.  
  
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Alex's eyes opened slightly when she heard the door close. She touched her cheek where Bakura had and smiled. - He'd make a fair nurse, - she thought. Then, she fell back to sleep.  
  
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a/n: Okay, how did you like it? I loved it. I've been wanting to get this down, but I'm gonna' like the next chapter even better 'cause that's where my song comes in! Yay! Sorry. Anyways, review and I'll post! 


	11. Father and Son

a/n: Since you all are liking my fic so far, here's the next chapter. Just so you guys know, there's gonna' be a sequel. I'm gonna' like writing that just as much as I like writing this. My fic, A Love You Can't Touch, will also have a sequel. I'm still not sure about my fic, Dilemma. I'll have to do some thinking about that one. Anyways, if you're not reading all of my fics, this doesn't matter, so here's your chapter. Don't forget to be good readers and review!  
  
P.S. I'm new to the internet 'lingo,' so would someone please tell me what 'ne' means? And also, what's a Mary-Sue?? I'm very stupid and I don't catch on very well. Please, if anyone would be so kind as to tell me these things, I'd greatly appreciate it.  
  
&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*  
  
Bakura sat on the couch, flipping through the channels. He wasn't paying attention to the TV, however. He couldn't get Alex out of his mind. He kept feeling the touch of her face on his hand. Every once in a while, he'd shake his hand to try to get rid of it, but it didn't work for very long.  
  
He sighed, knowing he was doing the same thing Alex had been doing with the remote. He decided to stay on whichever channel it landed on when he stopped. He stopped pressing the button and a soap opera came on the screen. He quickly changed the channel with a disgusted expression. A commercial now. Well, that was nowhere near as bad as a soap opera.  
  
Frustrated with himself, he shook his hand again. - Come /on/! - he thought to himself. - This is ridiculous. -  
  
He stared at the TV, the stupid commercials not registering in his brain.  
  
~ I'm tuggin' at my hair,  
  
~ I'm pullin' at my clothes,  
  
~ I'm tryin' to keep my cool,  
  
~ I know it shows.  
  
He got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and leaned against the counter, staring at it. He took a sip, trying to get rid of the butterfly feeling in his stomach.  
  
~ I'm starin' at my feet,  
  
~ my cheeks are turnin' red.  
  
~ I'm searchin' for the words inside my head.  
  
- What's wrong with me? - he asked, suddenly feeling his face burn for no apparent reason. He put a hand on his stomach as if that would calm it, and stared at his water.  
  
~ I'm feelin' nervous,  
  
~ tryin' to be so perfect,  
  
~ 'cause I know you're worth it,  
  
~ you're worth it... yeah.  
  
Frustrated, he poured the water out and went back to the couch. He sat there for a few minutes, watching 'Cops.'  
  
~ If I could say what I wanna' say,  
  
~ I'd say I wanna' blow you -- away.  
  
~ Be with you every night.  
  
~ Am I squeezing you too tight?  
  
~ If I could say what I wanna' see,  
  
~ I wanna' see you go down -- on one knee.  
  
~ Marry me today.  
  
~ Guess I'm wishin' my life away,  
  
~ with these things I'll never say.  
  
Bakura checked his watch. 7:46. Only about fifteen minutes before Jade got home. He wanted to go home very badly. He suddenly felt out of place at her house. Or, maybe, he felt out of place because Alex wasn't with him.  
  
~ It don't do me any good,  
  
~ it's just a waste of time,  
  
~ what use is it to you what's on my mind?  
  
He was going to drive himself nuts if he kept this up. He tried to concentrate on Cops, but every five seconds he found himself checking his watch or looking towards the stairs.  
  
~ If it ain't comin' out,  
  
~ we're not goin' anywhere,  
  
~ so why can't I just tell you that I care?  
  
He snapped back into reality to find he was pacing. He never paced. He forced himself to sit back down.  
  
~ 'Cause I'm feelin' nervous,  
  
~ tryin' to be so perfect,  
  
~ 'cause I know you're worth it,  
  
~ you're worth it... yeah!  
  
Finally, the front door opened and Jade and David walked through. He shut off the TV and stood up.  
  
"Hi, Bakura," David greeted happily.  
  
"Hi," he replied, feeling rather nervous, though he wasn't sure why.  
  
"Thank you for staying," Jade said, hanging her jacket up. "How's Alex?"  
  
"She's... upstairs asleep. She took two aspirin for her headache, just so you know," he said.  
  
"All right. I won't bother her then. Thank you again, Bakura. Alex is lucky to have a friend like you," Jade said.  
  
Bakura felt his face flush and he made his way to the front door to try to hide it. "Uh... thanks," he said. "I... I've got to go. Dad's expecting me home now," he lied.  
  
"Right, see you later," Jade said with a smile. He gave her a weak one in return, then made a fast exit.  
  
~ If I could say what I wanna' say,  
  
~ I'd say I wanna' blow you -- away.  
  
~ Be with you every night.  
  
~ Am I squeezing you too tight?  
  
~ If I could say what I wanna' see,  
  
~ I wanna' see you go down -- on one knee.  
  
~ Marry me today.  
  
~ Guess I'm wishin' my life away,  
  
~ with these things I'll never say.  
  
Bakura walked down the dark street, a breeze blowing against his face. He was unaware of it, though. He only had one thing on his mind at the moment...  
  
~ What's wrong,  
  
~ with my tongue?  
  
~ These words keep slipping away.  
  
~ I stutter,  
  
~ I stumble,  
  
~ like I've got nothing to say.  
  
He was driving himself insane. He kept trying to push thoughts out of his head... memories... but they wouldn't go. What was /wrong/ with him?  
  
~ 'Cause I'm feelin' nervous,  
  
~ tryin' to be so perfect,  
  
~ 'cause I know you're worth it,  
  
~ you're worth it -- yeah!  
  
He stopped walking for a second and wrapped his arms around his stomach and closed his eyes, trying to make the feeling go away. - Just go away... leave... just for right now at least... -  
  
~ Guess I'm wishin' my life away,  
  
~ with these things I'll never say.  
  
He continued on his way to his house, his arms still around his stomach. He reached it a few minutes later and entered, pulling the door shut behind him.  
  
"Dad? I'm home," he said.  
  
"There you are! What happened to you?" his dad asked, coming out of the kitchen wearing an apron.  
  
"I.. uh... had to stop at a friends' house. Alex was sick, so..." he said, trying to figure a way out to maybe lead his dad to believe Alex was a guy.  
  
"Dropping off homework doesn't take an entire afternoon!" Mr. Ryou said.  
  
"Well, Alex's sister wasn't home, so I stayed a while... to make sure everything was okay," Bakura replied, cautiously.  
  
"What's he got?" Mr. Ryou asked, going back into the kitchen, his son behind him.  
  
"Um... I'm not sure. She has a fever of 102, though," he said without thinking.  
  
"Oh, Alex is a /she/," Mr. Ryou said, turning back to Bakura, who struggled against a blush.  
  
"Yeah," he said as though his dad should have known that. "She's new. She was expelled from her old school."  
  
"Expelled? What'd she do?" he asked, surprised.  
  
"Got into a fight. She punched a prep," he said, feeling slightly more comfortable around his dad.  
  
"Ouch," Mr. Ryou said, wincing slightly. "Although, I bet the prep deserved it, right?"  
  
"They always do," he said and they both laughed.  
  
"So, what's Alex like?" Mr. Ryou asked, chopping up some carrots.  
  
"Um... well, she's a punk, really," Bakura said.  
  
"Oh, well, don't start picking up too many of her habits," his father joked, throwing the tops of the carrots away.  
  
Bakura laughed. "I won't. She's pretty nice... uh... most of the time," he said, remembering when she had tried to punch the prep at Domino High.  
  
"Sounds interesting," his father said. "Anything else?"  
  
"Well, her parents are dead, so her sister takes care of her and her little brother," he said, deliberately leaving out the part about her witnessing her parents' deaths. "She can't stand her sister, but she's nice to David. Uh... that's her brother."  
  
"I gathered that," Mr. Ryou laughed. "So, how long have you been friends?"  
  
"A few days, I guess," Bakura said, thinking about it. "She started at Domino High about a week ago."  
  
"And I'm only /just/ hearing about her?" Mr. Ryou joked and his son grinned.  
  
"Well, when she first started, she didn't really like me."  
  
His father raised his eyebrows. "/Really/? And now she does?"  
  
"Dad!" Bakura laughed, knowing his father was kidding. "I think so. Sometimes it's hard to tell, though."  
  
"Ah, the mysterious ways of the female mind," Mr. Ryou said, laughing with Bakura. "So, are you hungry, or did you eat there?"  
  
"I only had a bowl of soup," Bakura said, remembering. "I could eat something else."  
  
His father laughed. "Well, I'm making homemade vegetable soup. How convenient!"  
  
Bakura laughed, feeling much more relaxed now that he was with his father. Ever since his mother and sister had died, they had become far closer.  
  
They stood at the counter, son helping father with dinner. Just like they had many times before, and just like they would many times more.  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
a/n: Okay, first thing, did the song fit? Everything except the line about "I wanna' see you go down -- on one knee." I know that one didn't really fit, but I think everything else did. Anyways, I wanted Bakura and his father to have a really good relationship. I like families like that. I also wanted it to be that way, 'cause Bakura's sister and mother are dead, I thought it would be good if the two guys got closer after that. Anyways, how are you liking my fic so far? Tell me in a review!! ^_^  
  
Things I'll Never Say - Avril Lavigne 


	12. Speak Up!

a/n: Okay, another chapter for my faithful reviewers! If you like this fic, why don't you check out my others? There's four more, so I won't list them, but you can check out my bio to find them. There's also loads, (and I mean loads) of great jokes in my bio to share with you.  
  
*****************************************************************************************  
  
Alex's eyes snapped open.  
  
"Alex!" Jade cried. "Phone for you!"  
  
- Has she no respect for people who are sick? I'm trying to sleep here! - Alex's hand fumbled around her end table and grabbed her watch. 3:45.  
  
"Alex! Did you hear me?" Jade called.  
  
Alex rolled her eyes and nodded to herself, now fumbling for her phone. She picked it up and put it to her ear.  
  
"Hello?" she asked, but her voice was barely a whisper.  
  
"Alex?" It was Bakura, but she had expected that.  
  
"What? My voice! I can't talk! Oh my /God/!" she cried, but her voice was barely audible.  
  
Bakura was struggling not to laugh. He could hear her, but it was hard to make out her words. "I wanted to know how you're feeling," he said.  
  
"How does it look like I'm feeling?" she snapped. "I can't /talk/!" She put a hand to her throat and attempted to scream. It came out as a whisper.  
  
"Do you want me to come over?" he asked.  
  
"If you want I guess," she said, miserably. "I can't /talk/!" she repeated, making Bakura laugh.  
  
"I'll be over in a little while, okay?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, yeah. Bye." She hung up and got out of bed. She walked down the hall into the bathroom. She was still wearing her long sleeved black shirt and jeans from the day before and her hair was straggly. She grabbed her comb and ran it through her hair a few times. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun, then went back into her room.  
  
"This sucks," she said, pulling out her box of darts from under her bed. She leaned against the headboard and threw a dart across the room into the dart board. It landed dead center. She threw a few more, making them land in a diamond around the first. She was out of darts now and she had to get up and get them again.  
  
Groaning, she got up off the bed and pulled the darts out of the board. She went back to her bed and flopped onto it. She threw the darts in a circle around one in the center. It was perfectly executed, but she didn't want to get up and get them again. She closed her eyes and sighed.  
  
A few minutes later, the door to her bedroom opened. Bakura stood there looking at her.  
  
"What?" she croaked, furious with the fact she had lost her voice.  
  
He laughed and came over to sit on the bed beside her.  
  
"Go get those darts," she said, pointing in the direction of the board.  
  
He looked over at it, surprised at the accuracy. "Did you throw those?" he asked as he retrieved them.  
  
"Yeah," she said, looking at him as though he should have known that. "I'll prove it. Tell me where to throw it," she said, her voice barely audible.  
  
"Um, the center," he said. He watched as she threw it with ease straight into the target. "Wow!" he said, impressed.  
  
"That was easy. Here, you try," she said, handing him a dart.  
  
"No, that's all right," he said, felling his face flush slightly. He knew he couldn't throw to save his life.  
  
"Come on. Are you really that bad?" she asked, laughing. "God! I wish I could talk!"  
  
He laughed and took the dart from her. He stood up and threw it. He managed to hit the board, though it was no where near the center. He heard Alex laughing and turned to look at her, a blush creeping across his cheeks.  
  
"You really are that bad!" she laughed.  
  
He gave a nervous laugh and put his hand behind his head, trying to think of something to say.  
  
Alex stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow at him. "What is /that/? Put your arm down, you look like an idiot."  
  
At that, Bakura went bright red and quickly brought his hand down to his side. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away from her to try to hide his blush.  
  
~ I'm starin' at my feet,  
  
~ my cheeks are turnin' red.  
  
~ I'm searchin' for the words inside my head.  
  
"What's wrong with you? You're acting really... weird," she said, giving him an odd look.  
  
"Um, nothing. I'm fine," he said, getting the darts and returning them to her. He sat down on her bed and didn't look at her.  
  
Alex sighed. "Look, you aren't freaking about my parents, are you?" she asked.  
  
"What?" he asked, snapping his head around to look at her. "Of course not!"  
  
"Don't tell anyone about it, okay? I don't want anyone to know," she said.  
  
"Yeah, okay," he replied. He was beaming inside that she had trusted him with the information.  
  
"Thanks," she said. She coughed and put her fingers to her throat. "Blast this! You really shouldn't be here, you'll get sick," she said.  
  
"I'll be fine," he assured her.  
  
"Don't you have your other friends to bug?" she asked, though her tone didn't suggest an insult.  
  
He gave a small laugh. "They're all healthy. Right now you need my company more than them."  
  
She shrugged. "I don't /need/ anyone's company," she said.  
  
Unsure of what to say to that, he stayed silent.  
  
~ 'Cause I'm feelin' nervous.  
  
~ Tryin' to be so perfect.  
  
~ 'Cause I know you're worth it,  
  
~ you're worth it... yeah.  
  
Alex threw the darts into the board, then leaned back against the headboard and sighed. "I'm pretty boring when I'm sick. You'd have more fun if you went with your other friends," she said, looking at him.  
  
"I'm fine," he assured her truthfully.  
  
She looked at him quizzically. "What's wrong with you? You'd rather sit here and do nothing when you could be at that short kid's house hanging out?"  
  
Bakura laughed. "You mean Yugi. Um, yeah, I guess so."  
  
"You're friggin' insane!" she said. She coughed again, turning her head away from him.  
  
"You're not coughing as much as you were yesterday," he said, trying to think of something else to say.  
  
"Yeah, but look at what I had to give up for it," she moaned, indicating her voice that was still barely more than a whisper. She made a face and he laughed.  
  
~ If I could say what I wanna' say,  
  
~ I'd say I wanna' blow you -- away.  
  
~ Be with you every night.  
  
~ Am I squeezing you too tight?  
  
"This sucks," she groaned, putting her forehead in her hand.  
  
"I can imagine," he replied, smiling.  
  
She looked at him smiling down at her and she began to grin herself, though she wasn't sure why. "Cut that out!" she said, hitting him in the arm.  
  
He laughed, seeing her smile full out. Her smile seemed to light up the room, especially without her black make up.  
  
She didn't bother hiding her smile as she looked at him this time. "You're really weird," she said, shaking her head.  
  
He just looked at her and grinned, unable to say anything.  
  
~ Guess I'm wishin' my life away,  
  
~ with these things I'll never say.  
  
Suddenly, the door opened and David came in. "Hey, Bakura!" he said happily.  
  
"Hi," he replied.  
  
"How are you feeling, Alex?" David asked.  
  
"Awful," she groaned, her voice croaky.  
  
"You've lost your voice?" he asked, fighting a laugh.  
  
"Oh, go away," Alex said, though she was grinning.  
  
David stuck his tongue out at her and she sat up.  
  
"Do that again and I'll cut it off!" she said, pointing a finger at him and grinning.  
  
Bakura smiled as the siblings exchanged a few more words. David left the room a few minutes later and Alex leaned back against the headboard.  
  
@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#  
  
"Alex says she's feeling awful," David reported.  
  
"Well, she can't be feeling too bad if she's with Bakura," Jade replied, flipping through the channels on the TV.  
  
"She was smiling," her brother said, sitting down beside her.  
  
"Well, that's good," Jade said, forcing a smile. - She barely knows this guy and he's already able to make her laugh. What is it that I'm doing wrong? -  
  
"She likes you Jade. She just... shows it in a funny way," David said.  
  
"Sure," Jade replied, tousling her brother's hair.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&  
  
a/n: So, what do you think? The song is going to be coming in in almost all the chapters now, so I hope you like it. I love Avril Lavigne. I wish I had her cd. But I have a lot of her songs in wav on my computer, so that's okay I guess. Anyways, review and I'll post more! 


	13. Halloween

a/n: Okay, this starts her birthday. Thanks to all my reviewers! I'm glad you all like my song! *beams* Well, technically, it's not mine, it's Avril's, but anyway... I know how frustrating it is to have a song in a fic that you don't know so you're just reading it instead of hearing it in your head, and everyone and their uncle knows Avril Lavigne, so I used this song. I thought it was pretty perfect and I'm glad you guys think so too! *beams*  
  
(disclaimer) I don't own the movie Cabin Fever, and personally, I don't want to. I wouldn't tell you if I did, that's for sure! If you haven't already seen it, DON'T!!! It's simply AWFUL!! I'm serious! I've never been so happy to see people get killed in my life! The entire time I was sitting there watching it, I kept saying things like, "Please, kill him first!" There wasn't a single person in that movie I liked! They were all stupid! My favorite part was the end! You know, when the movie /stops/? When it's /over/. That was my favorite part. Oh, anyways, let's get on with the fanfic, that okay with you?? *C  
  
^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^%^  
  
TWO WEEKS LATER  
  
OCTOBER 31'ST...  
  
~~  
  
Bakura stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He combed his hair out one more time, then decided it looked all right. He went back into his room and looked at his watch. 11:26 a.m. It was a Saturday and he had arranged to meet Alex at the arcade at noon the day before. He left his room and went downstairs.  
  
"Hey," his dad greeted him cheerfully.  
  
"Hi... oh," Bakura said suddenly, going back up the stairs.  
  
"Okay," Mr. Ryou said with a small laugh.  
  
Bakura ran into his room and grabbed the small box off his dresser, putting it into his pocket as he went back down the stairs.  
  
"Sorry, forgot something," he said to his dad.  
  
His dad chuckled. "You running off now?"  
  
"Yeah, it's Alex's birthday and I said I'd meet her at the arcade," Bakura replied, trying not to look extremely happy about it.  
  
"She'll be seventeen?" Mr. Ryou asked and his son nodded.  
  
"I have to go, I don't want to be late," Bakura said.  
  
"All right, see you later. I'll be here. All alone. By myself," Mr. Ryou said, pretending to be lonely.  
  
"Dad!" Bakura said laughing. "I'll see you later, okay?"  
  
"All right, see you," his dad said, waving as Bakura ran out the front door. "He's just like my father's son," he said, laughing to himself.  
  
Bakura looked at his watch when he got outside. 11:43. How quickly time flies. He set off at a run down the street. He didn't want to be late.  
  
@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@  
  
Alex leaned against the arcade wall outside, looking down the street. She looked at her watch. 11: 54. All right, so he still had six minutes left. But she wanted him to get here already. She sighed, leaning forward to look down the sidewalk.  
  
She leaned back, her foot on the wall behind her. She looked at her watch again, impatient. 11:57. Three minutes.  
  
- God knows he'd better be here on time, - she thought, scowling. She hated waiting, even if she was early. To her, late was getting there anytime after her.  
  
A few minutes later, Bakura stepped in front of her, his hands in his pockets. His face was flushed and his breathing was slightly rapid.  
  
Alex gave him an odd look. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, checking her watch. 11:59. She groaned. Now she couldn't bug him about being late.  
  
"Um, nothing," he said, his face going slightly redder, though it was hard to tell.  
  
"Whatever," she grumbled.  
  
He gave her an odd look. "Cheer up, it's your birthday," he said.  
  
She stared at him blankly for a second. Then, without warning, she wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pulling him down to her level. She grinned as she tousled his hair.  
  
"Hey!" he laughed, pushing her away and standing up, his face red.  
  
"All right, now I'm feeling better," she said, grinning.  
  
He tried to flatten his hair out again, but she pushed his hand away. "Leave it alone! It looks cool like that!" she said and he blinked at her.  
  
She headed into the arcade and he grinned as he followed her.  
  
~ Guess I'm wishin' my life away,  
  
~ With these things I'll never say.  
  
She won about three different fighting games, leaving Bakura feeling rather stupid. He was saved, however, by Yugi and the gang coming in.  
  
"Hey, Bakura!" Joey called as they entered the arcade.  
  
"Huh?" Alex asked, turning around from her game, allowing Bakura to knock some of the life out of her game warrior. "Hey!" she exclaimed, realizing what he had done. She finished him off quickly as the gang came over.  
  
"Hi," Bakura greeted them.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Alex asked, folding her arms and looking down at Yugi.  
  
"Um... Bakura said today was your birthday, so we decided to come. We thought you could use a little more of a party," Yugi said, smiling at her.  
  
Alex tilted her head in Bakura's direction and raised her eyebrow at him. He grinned nervously and started to raise his hand behind his head. Remembering her reaction to that last time, he quickly brought his arm back down and shoved his hands in his pockets.  
  
~ 'Cause I'm feelin' nervous,  
  
~ tryin' to be so perfect,  
  
~ 'cause I know you're worth it,  
  
~ you're worth it... yeah.  
  
"Whatever," Alex said, bringing her head back to an upright position. She sighed and stared at them. "So?"  
  
Tea caught sight of the DDR across the arcade. "Hey Alex! Do you want to compete against me in the DDR?" she asked.  
  
Bakura mentally winced. He knew exactly what Alex's reaction to that would be. He could probably say the words /with/ her.  
  
She raised her eyebrow and looked at Tea like she was out of her mind. "You have /got/ to be kidding me," she said.  
  
"Oh, um, yeah," Tea said, feeling her face grow warm. "Heh heh, yeah I was."  
  
Alex rolled her eyes and sighed. She turned to Bakura and said, "Can we /please/ ditch them?"  
  
Bakura went bright red, as did Yugi and Tea.  
  
"Hey! You can't just ditch us like that!" Joey exclaimed.  
  
Alex snapped her head in his direction and glared at him. "Really? Just watch me," she snarled. She headed for the door of the arcade, pushing Joey out of the way as she went.  
  
"Hey!" Joey cried again.  
  
"Alex! Wait a minute!" Bakura called. He sighed as the door swung shut behind her and she disappeared down the sidewalk. "Joey, when it comes to Alex, you have to watch what you say," he said on his way past the gang.  
  
"Huh? She's the one that..." Joey said, confused.  
  
Bakura exited the arcade and ran after Alex. "Alex! Alex, wait a second!" he called, but she didn't turn around. He was gaining fast on her and suddenly realized he wasn't going to be able to stop in time. "Oh, no," he said, his eyes growing wide as he tried to stop. He ran right into her and before he could say anything, he had been slammed against a building, Alex holding him there by his shirt collar.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" she cried. "Watch were you're going!"  
  
"All right! I'm sorry! I was trying to catch up to you and my brakes malfunctioned!" he exclaimed, putting his hands up in surrender.  
  
She snorted in laughter and released him. He straightened his shirt and breathed in relief.  
  
"I'd hate to see what you'd do to a stranger!" he said and she gave a small laugh.  
  
"What do you want?" she asked, folding her arms.  
  
"Um, to challenge you to a game of air hockey," he said, feeling rather stupid, though he wasn't sure why.  
  
She snorted. "No thanks. Not with those freaks in there," she said, nodding her head in the direction of the arcade.  
  
"Oh, um, okay," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.  
  
~ I'm tuggin' at my hair,  
  
~ I'm pullin' at my clothes,  
  
~ I'm tryin' to keep my cool,  
  
~ I know it shows.  
  
His hand touched the small box and he quickly pulled it out. "Oh, um, here. I, uh, I got you something," he stuttered, holding the box out for her take.  
  
~ What's wrong,  
  
~ with my tongue?  
  
~ These words keep slippin' away.  
  
~ I stutter,  
  
~ I stumble,  
  
~ like I've got nothing to say.  
  
Instead of taking it, she stared at it like it came from outer space. "What's that?" she asked, looking at him quizzically.  
  
Bakura felt his face flush. "Um, it's your birthday, so I got you a present."  
  
She gave him a blank stare as if she'd never seen him before. "...Oh," she said, taking it, after slight hesitation.  
  
It was a black velvet box and she stared at it a second before opening it. Two black studs sat in it. Alex stared at the earrings as if she'd never seen anything like them.  
  
Bakura was watching her, waiting for a reaction. Her silence was killing him. He tilted his head and looked at her blank expression, trying to read it.  
  
She finally snapped the box shut and put it in her pocket. She looked up at him and grinned. "They're pretty cool," she said and he breathed in relief. "My brother got me this," she said, holding up her arm. From her wrist hung a chain bracelet. A charm was attached to it and he turned it to get a better look. It was a peace symbol.  
  
Alex took her wrist away and shoved her hands in her pockets. "He hates the fact that I get into fights and stuff. He's constantly making the peace sign at me. Drives me up the wall," she said, though she was grinning at the ground.  
  
Feeling very pleased with himself that he had gotten her a present she approved of, he shoved his hands in his own pockets and beamed. He felt as if he was on cloud nine and he liked it there.  
  
"Okay, fine. I except your challenge. It's time for me to whip your butt at air hockey," she said with a grin, play punching him in the arm as she started to the arcade once more.  
  
Bakura rubbed his forearm where she had punched him harder than she intended, he was sure. Or, maybe she had intended to and she was testing him. He couldn't really be sure of anything when it came to her. Though, he found he didn't mind it.  
  
With a grin, he followed her back to the arcade. He had to run slightly to catch up to her, but he didn't mind. They entered the arcade again a few minutes later and headed over to the air hockey table where Yugi was playing a game with Joey. Tristan was rooting for whoever was in the lead at that moment and Tea was playing DDR with someone Bakura didn't know.  
  
Alex frowned when she saw the air hockey table was taken already. She walked up behind Yugi and looked at his score. He paused before hitting the puck back to Joey to look at her. His score was a six.  
  
"How long have you been playing?" she asked dryly, still looking over his shoulder.  
  
"Um, about five minutes I guess," he said, feeling slightly uncomfortable.  
  
"That's pathetic," she said, walking around the table to Joey, who looked at her with a bit more of a scowl.  
  
Bakura watched as she leaned over Joey's shoulder to look at his score, which proved to be much more difficult then leaning over Yugi. His score was eight.  
  
"You still haven't won?" she asked, looking at him incredulously.  
  
Joey looked at Bakura before answering. "No, I haven't. We're tryin' to play a game here," he said.  
  
Alex backed up and leaned against one of the other games. Bakura came over and stood beside her, watching Joey and Yugi's game.  
  
Alex watched with a bored expression, almost as if she'd rather be watching fish. Finally, Joey won and she sighed, quickly moving to one end of the table. Bakura took the other.  
  
The rest of the gang stood around the table, watching as they hit the puck around the table. Alex glared at it every time it came her way and her eyes followed it no matter where it went. Whenever Bakura sent the puck away, he stole glances at her. She was wearing her make up again, but she still looked cute as she concentrated on the game.  
  
"Yes," she hissed under her breath as she sent the puck sliding into Bakura's goal. She moved her slider up a notch as he put the puck back on the table.  
  
Bakura hit it back to her and she aimed for it, but missed. It slid straight into her goal without disturbance. She scowled and put it back on the table.  
  
The gang watched as the two of them played for a good number of minutes more without scoring. Tea came back from DDR and, after asking what was going on, stayed to watch too.  
  
"Hm," Alex said with a grin as she scored. She moved her slider up another notch, feeling proud of herself.  
  
Bakura was by far the toughest opponent she had ever had at this game. For the first time, she was worried about losing. She hadn't lost at this game for years and she wanted to keep it that way.  
  
A few more scores from both of them brought it up to [Alex - 5, Bakura - 6]. Alex's eyes flitted around, following the puck as she and Bakura hit it back and forth. She scored, bring it up to a tie so far. Then Bakura scored.  
  
He had stopped glancing at her to pay attention to the game. There was a faint glimmer of hope that he might actually win and he was going to try his best to do it. Maybe /that/ would impress her.  
  
~ If it ain't comin' out,  
  
~ we're not goin' anywhere,  
  
~ so why can't I just tell you that I care?  
  
[Alex - 7, Bakura - 8] Bakura glanced up at her to see her studying the puck's every move. He had trouble tearing his eyes away from her and almost missed the puck when she sent it his way. She did manage to score twice in a row, however, bring her score up to nine while his remained at eight. After a few more minutes, he brought it up to a tie. Now he could see the nervousness in her eyes as she protected her goal. He grinned, knowing that if he won, she wouldn't be too happy about it. But she also might have a bit more respect for him.  
  
Alex hit the puck, sending it flying across the table. Bakura almost missed it, but managed to hit it away, sending it straight into her goal. His eyes widened as he checked his score. Her eyes widened as well and her jaw dropped.  
  
"No way!" she cried, feeling the puck in it's pocket under her goal. She stared at her score, then walked around the table to stare at his. "No friggin' way!"  
  
Bakura was struggling to keep his face straight, but it was difficult. He was as surprised as her that he had won and he was enjoying the look on her face.  
  
"You didn't just win," she said, unable to look at him. "No way! I'm the champ!"  
  
"Not anymore!" Joey said, grinning. She silenced him with a death glare.  
  
"This is friggin' impossible," she said, leaning on the table.  
  
"Good game," Bakura said, unable to keep the grin off his face.  
  
She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "For you maybe," she said, making him laugh.  
  
There was silence a minute before Joey spoke. "All right. Hey, Alex, I challenge you now."  
  
She turned her head to look at the blonde and snorted. "Okay, fine. This won't take long," she said, positioning herself at the table where Bakura had stood.  
  
Joey pulled the puck out of the pocket and set it on the table. Alex scored the first time she hit it and that got Joey concentrating more.  
  
She scored again and she laughed. "You might as well give up now, 'cause you're not gonna' beat me," she said, smacking the puck back towards him.  
  
"Bakura managed to," he said, looking her directly in the eye briefly. "I'm sure I can handle it."  
  
Alex scowled and hit it straight into his goal. The next score was Joey's. They alternated for a few shots, bringing the score up to [Alex - 6, Joey - 4].  
  
"Joey's doing pretty well," Bakura said to Tristan as he watched the game.  
  
"Yeah, but he's not going to be happy when Alex beats him," Tristan replied.  
  
Bakura just grinned, still pleased with his victory.  
  
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Alex beat him [10 - 6]. Joey scowled, slightly surprised as Alex grinned.  
  
"Now I don't feel so bad," she said, smirking at Joey.  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm better at other games," he replied, trying to salvage some of his dignity.  
  
Alex snorted. "Whatever. Well, you got your game, Bakura. Catch you later," she said, nodding at him before turning and heading for the door.  
  
"Huh?" Bakura asked, surprised. He hadn't expected her to do that. "Wait!" he called, starting after her. He turned back to the gang briefly and said, "Um, I'll see you later, okay?"  
  
"Okay, bye Bakura," Tea said, slightly confused.  
  
With that he once more followed Alex out the door and down the sidewalk. He checked his watch. 2:23. Running over to Alex, he got an idea.  
  
"Alex, um, do you want to go see a movie?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets and crossing his fingers.  
  
She stopped and looked at him, making him blush. "Why, you got something you want to see?" she asked.  
  
"Um, well no," he said, going furiously red.  
  
Thankfully, she didn't notice. She just shrugged and said, "Yeah, all right. Got nothing else to do."  
  
If she hadn't been standing right in front of him, he'd probably have punched the air. But he didn't and tried to make the color drain from his face. They didn't speak to one another as they headed towards the theater.  
  
When they arrived, they looked at the numerous posters outside to decide which one to see. Most of them were horrors, seeing as what day it was. After a bit of arguing, the compromised and decided on "Cabin Fever."  
  
Bakura paid for the tickets and they got seats near the back of the theater. Alex chose the seats, and he was perfectly happy sitting near the back.  
  
"I've seen commercials about this movie," Bakura said while they waited for it to start.  
  
"Yeah, me too," she replied. She was staring at the blank screen and didn't notice the fact that he was watching her.  
  
"Um, it looks interesting," he said, trying to make conversation.  
  
"It could be good, or it could be bad. We won't know until it's over, will we?" she asked, looking at him and making him go red.  
  
"Um, right," he said, earning himself an odd look from Alex. Then, she went back to staring at the screen as if she were waiting for it to perform a trick.  
  
A few seconds later, the lights dimmed and the trailers came on the screen. Bakura felt his face burn as he forced himself to look at the screen and not at her.  
  
When the movie finally started, Bakura debated whether or not to put his arm around her. He decided against it, remembering what she had done when he had accidentally run into her. Instead, he wrapped his arms around his stomach in an attempt to calm the butterflies. This didn't work anywhere near as well as he'd hoped. He wouldn't relax until the end of the movie, and he knew it.  
  
~ I'm feelin' nervous,  
  
~ tryin' to be so perfect,  
  
~ 'cause I know you're worth it,  
  
~ you're worth it... yeah.  
  
~~  
  
~ If it ain't comin' out,  
  
~ we're not goin' anywhere,  
  
~ so why can't I just tell you that I care?  
  
@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#  
  
a/n: Okay, the continuation will be in the next chapter, so don't forget to review, or I might forget to post. XD How are you liking it so far? I'm glad you all like the song! I really didn't think I'd hear that many good things about it! ^_^ I'm happy now. 


	14. Dinner

a/n: Since I know you all love my cliffhangers, I'll give you another one. heh heh I know I'm evil, but hey... I'm posting, right? You haven't had to wait /too/ long for your chapters. Anyways, keep reviewing and I'll keep giving you cliffhangers! ^_^  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Alex and Bakura left the theater two hours later, Alex heavily immersed in conversation. Bakura didn't even attempt to speak; he didn't think he could get a word in.  
  
"That movie was /awful/!" She cried as they walked down the sidewalk. "I've never /seen/ a movie that bad! I was rooting for the disease the whole time! I mean, what a bunch of /idiots/! I've never seen such losers! They're worse then you!"  
  
"Huh?" he asked, surprised. "Hey!"  
  
"Huh? Oh, no offense," she said quickly before going on again about the movie. "Those morons! That guy came to the door after that other idiot shot him, and when he got into their car and got blood all over it, they set him on fire! I mean, if they don't want to get the disease, they're not gonna' use the car anyway, so why not let him have it?"  
  
"Um, right," Bakura said, trying to keep up with what she was saying. He was grinning as he watched her ramble on, disgusted by the ridiculous movie.  
  
Alex took a breath and checked her watch. 5:04. "Yo, you want to get something to eat? I'm starved."  
  
"Sure," he said, smiling.  
  
He shoved his hands in his pockets as she began rambling on and on again about the horrible film they just wasted money on seeing. He held in a laugh as she talked without stopping to breathe.  
  
She led him to a fairly inexpensive restaurant called Victoria's. She finally stopped talking about the movie as they entered. A hostess greeted them as the door swung closed behind them.  
  
"Two?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah," Alex said, her hands in her pockets. Her right hand touched the velvet box Bakura had given her and it took her a second to remember what it was. When she did, she glanced at him.  
  
- Why did he even bother? He's really weird, - she thought. - And I thought I was nuts. -  
  
The hostess led them to a table for two and Bakura blushed as he sat down across from Alex. He quickly opened his menu to hide his face.  
  
~ If I could say what I wanna' say,  
  
~ I'd say I wanna' blow you -- away.  
  
~ Be with you every night.  
  
~ Am I squeezin' you too tight?  
  
"I come in here all the time. Although, most of the time I'm alone," she said, opening her menu on the table. "Or, sometimes I take David out."  
  
Bakura looked over his menu at her. She was studying her own menu and she didn't see him smile as he set his down. She might seem like a cold hearted person on the outside, but on the inside she wasn't anything like that. Her love for her little brother proved it. It sort of reminded him of when Amane was alive. He used to be close with her as well.  
  
"Yeah, well, I know what I'm getting," she announced, closing her menu. "What about you?"  
  
He nodded, still smiling.  
  
Alex gave him an odd look. "Why are you grinning like a madman?" she asked.  
  
The smile was quickly wiped off his face to be replaced by a blush. "Uh, I'm not," he said, feeling very stupid.  
  
She raised her eyebrow. "Yeah you were. I just saw you. Or are you suggesting I'm hallucinating?"  
  
"No, but I wasn't... never mind," he said, his face growing scarlet.  
  
She gave him another odd look. "Yo, you feeling okay? You've been acting really weird all day."  
  
"Um, yeah I'm fine," he said, looking at her.  
  
"Whatever," she said. "But if you catch anything, don't expect me to play nurse. That's definitely not me."  
  
Bakura grinned. Typical Alex. So maybe she wasn't as unpredictable as he had thought.  
  
The waitress came back a few minutes later with Alex's coke and Bakura's sprite. She had black hair cut to her chin and she wore black eye make up that resembled Alex's. She had on a choker and numerous chains around her wrists. Her clothes were also black, except she was wearing a skirt with boots and a shirt that fit her well, except for the rip in the sleeve.  
  
"Hey Alex. Jasmine told me you were here," she said.  
  
"Yo. Sam, this is Bakura," Alex said, waving her hand between them.  
  
Feeling very uncomfortable, Bakura gave a weak smile and held up a hand to signal, "hello."  
  
Sam stared at him, then turned to Alex. "You gone off the deep end?" she asked incredulously.  
  
Alex shrugged. "He goes to my new school. Been following me around."  
  
"So now you're having dinner with him?" Sam asked, raising her eyebrow.  
  
Bakura stared between the two punks. They were talking about him as if he wasn't even there.  
  
Alex play punched the waitress in the arm. "Yeah right. God, you make it sound like we're /dating/ or something."  
  
Bakura went bright red and pretended to be looking at the menu.  
  
"We're just chillin'," Alex finished with a shrug.  
  
"Whatever," Sam said, shaking her head once. "You know what you're getting?"  
  
"Yeah, ziti," Alex said, handing Sam her menu.  
  
"And you?" the waitress asked, looking at Bakura.  
  
He began to understand why the turtle shrank into it's shell when people looked at it. It was to avoid getting looks like the one Sam was throwing him. "Um," he said, going slightly red. "Shrimp alfredo."  
  
"Yup," Sam said, jotting it down on her pad. "Anything else?"  
  
"Not for me," Alex said, leaning on the table. Bakura realized she was looking at him.  
  
"Uh... no, thanks," he said, doing his best to smile.  
  
Sam stared at him, her eyebrows raised. "What, is this a pity date or something?" she asked Alex, still unable to grasp the fact that her punk friend was having dinner with Bakura.  
  
Alex shrugged. "Nah. I told you. We're just hangin' out."  
  
"All right. Hold the phone," Sam said suddenly. "Today's Halloween. That means you're what, eighteen?"  
  
Alex grinned. "That's right," she said.  
  
Bakura snorted. After how she had referred to him, she wasn't getting away with /that/. "She's seventeen," he said.  
  
Alex glared at him and he just grinned back.  
  
"Oh, yeah. My bad. That's cool though!" the waitress said, hitting Alex in the arm.  
  
Alex grinned. "Yeah, pretty cool."  
  
"Man, that's the only way I remember your birthday. That'd be so cool if I was born on Halloween." she said, grinning at Alex.  
  
"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Alex said, grinning back.  
  
"So, are you friends or something?" Bakura asked as Sam walked away.  
  
Alex shrugged. "Only from the restaurant. It's so awesome they don't have a dress code. That would suck if she had to wear some cheesy costume," she said.  
  
"Right," Bakura said, feeling somewhat stupid. "How old is she?"  
  
"Eh, nineteen I think," she replied, tapping her lip with her finger in thought. "Doesn't matter. She's older than me. That's all anyone really needs to know. The only way anyone remembers my birthday is 'cause it's Halloween. That's pretty cool I think."  
  
Bakura nodded. "I'd have remembered your birthday even if it wasn't Halloween."  
  
Alex raised an eyebrow at him. "Eh? Why?"  
  
"Uh... I have a good memory," he said quickly. Alex accepted that and he breathed in relief. That had been a rather stupid thing to say.  
  
"So, how old are you?" she asked, stirring her straw through her coke.  
  
"Seventeen. I'll be eighteen in September," he replied, pleased she wanted to know.  
  
"So you're only, what, a month older than me?" she asked and he shrugged and nodded. "Hm, that's cool."  
  
"What do you usually do on your birthday?" he asked, folding his arms on the table.  
  
"Eh, I usually just chill at the arcade a while. Or I'll go see a movie. One much better than that other crack mind you," she said, glancing up at him a second. "Then I usually just walk around to avoid the kids. You know the bridge? That creek runs through the woods and I know how to get there and stuff. I usually hang there."  
  
"Are you always by yourself?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah," she said as though he should have known that. "What, you think anyone wants to come walk with me... in the dark... on Halloween... where there aren't any houses?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.  
  
Bakura shrugged. "I will."  
  
Her eyes widened. "Huh?"  
  
"I don't mind walking with you," he said, smiling.  
  
Without warning, she reached across the table and pressed a hand to his forehead. He laughed as she sat back down in her seat, staring at him like he was out of his mind.  
  
"Are you serious?" she asked incredulously.  
  
"Sure," he said. "Why wouldn't I be?"  
  
"Well, no one's ever really... wanted to hang with me on Halloween. They kinda' thought I was weird, especially after my parents, ya' know?" she said, going back to stirring her straw through her coke.  
  
"I don't care. What happened to your parents wasn't your fault. And I don't think you're going to turn into a werewolf or something," he said.  
  
She stared at him. "You really have nothing better to do with your time except bug me?"  
  
He grinned. "I guess not."  
  
She grinned back and he felt his heart skip a beat. "Were you always this weird?"  
  
He nodded and she laughed. She took a sip of her coke and looked at him.  
  
"Eh, well, then of course you have to wonder... exactly what's weird? I mean, you're always hearing there's no such thing as normal because everyone's different, right? So, what's weird? If you don't have a normal, how can you have a weird?" she asked, folding her arms on the table.  
  
Bakura thought about it a minute. He had never looked at it that way before. "Yeah, you're right," he said, smiling.  
  
She grinned back as Sam came by with their dinner.  
  
"You got the ziti," she said, placing the plate in front of Alex. "And you're the alfredo. Well, give me a yell if you need anything, kay?" she said, looking at Alex.  
  
"Yeah," Alex said and Sam walked away.  
  
They ate for a few minutes in silence before Bakura spoke.  
  
"So, how old is David?" he asked, glancing at her.  
  
"Eleven. Why?" she asked.  
  
"Just curious."  
  
Alex nodded and there was silence again. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable and he wished he could think of something intelligent to say.  
  
A few seconds later, Alex spoke. "So what, you moved from England or something?"  
  
He nodded and looked at her.  
  
"Yeah, you got that accent," she said.  
  
He just grinned, unsure of what to say to that.  
  
"So why'd you move anyway?"  
  
"Um, Dad's job moves around,***" he replied.  
  
"So, you could be moving again any time now or what?" she asked, looking at him.  
  
He shook his head. "No, he started to settle down now that Amane and Mom are gone," he said.  
  
"Amane, that's your sis?" she asked and he nodded. "So is it cool in England?"  
  
"Um, yeah," he said, caught by surprise.  
  
"You like it better here or there?"  
  
"Um, it's sort of hard to say. I don't think I could move back because I have a bunch of new friends here," he said.  
  
She nodded. "But, you had friends you left in England too, right?"  
  
"Yeah, there was Kathy," he said.  
  
She raised her eyebrows. "What, your girlfriend or something?"  
  
He laughed. "No, she was my best friend. She moved next door to me when I was ten."  
  
"Gotcha'," she said, nodding. "So, was it hard to leave her behind?"  
  
"Well, yeah. But we still keep in touch with letters and stuff," he said, wondering why she had suddenly taken an interest in this subject.  
  
"That's cool," she said.  
  
There was silence for a few more minutes.  
  
"So what's your deal, anyway? Do you always go over and bug the new kid and stuff? Or was it just me?" she asked.  
  
"Um, well, technically it was only you, because I was the new kid before you," he said.  
  
"Yeah, well, what about in England?"  
  
"Um... I didn't know what it was like to be new then. So, no, I guess not," he replied, feeling his face grow warm.  
  
"Ah," she said.  
  
Again there was silence.  
  
- Why is that we can't seem to keep a conversation going? - he thought.  
  
Alex caught him looking at her and she stared at him. "What?" she asked, finishing her dinner.  
  
"Nothing," he said, shaking his head and finishing his as well. He watched her as she began to stir her straw through her drink. "Is that a nervous habit of yours?" he asked as he watched her.  
  
She looked up at him and stopped immediately. "I don't have nervous habits," she stated flatly. "I just... like doing that."  
  
He nodded, grinning. "Oh, okay."  
  
A few minutes later, Sam came back and cleared the table. "Anythin' else?" she asked, directing her question at Alex.  
  
"Not for me," she replied, glancing at Bakura, who shook his head.  
  
"All right. I'll be back with the check in a few minutes." When Sam placed the check on the table, both Alex and Bakura reached for it, her hand landing on top of his.  
  
"I've got it," he said, sliding the check out from under her hand and towards him.  
  
Alex stared at him. "All right," she said, slightly confused.  
  
He set the money down on the table and Alex dug in her own pocket, pulling out some cash.  
  
"It's all right..." Bakura started, but Alex put five dollars down on the table defiantly.  
  
"I've got the tip." She said it in such a tone that Bakura didn't dare argue. "Come on, lets ditch this place."  
  
Bakura nodded, happy to go. He followed her outside into darkness.  
  
They stood there a minute before Alex hit him lightly in the arm. "You still want to come with me to the creek?"  
  
Bakura nodded. "Yeah," he said eagerly.  
  
"Well, come on! We're not gonna' get there by standing around you know," she said, taking off down the sidewalk.  
  
Bakura grinned as he ran to catch up with her. "Hey! Wait for me!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
a/n: he he The next chapter I think will be the end of her birthday. At first I didn't really have any ideas for her birthday, but now I find I was /wrong/!! lol I'm lovin' this and I hope you are too!! Review!! heh heh, bet you knew I was going to say that! And yes, I am slightly hyper today. ^_^  
  
*** I know he's an archeologist, so I think that's why Bakura moved... don't yell at me please if I'm wrong!! 


	15. Under A Full Moon

a/n: Okay, this is the end of her birthday. Here you go...  
  
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))  
  
"God you're slow!" she called over her shoulder, crossing the street as the light changed.  
  
Getting into it, he sped up and followed her to the bridge. She finally had to stop to catch her breath. She threw her head back and laughed and he grinned as well, both of them breathing heavily.  
  
"Come on, this way," she said, nodding her head to the right. She shoved her hands in her pockets and started walking across the bridge, Bakura behind her.  
  
A few minutes later, they reached the stores on the other side of the bridge. Alex started making her way behind them, ignoring the sign that said, "No trespassing."  
  
"Um, Alex," Bakura said.  
  
"What?" she asked, turning to face him.  
  
"That sign..." he started, but she cut him off.  
  
"Come on, no one ever comes back here to check it out."  
  
"You've never been caught?" he asked and she thought about it.  
  
"Well, okay, once. But that was ages ago. And it's the danger that's so cool!" she said, grinning. "What, are you chicken?"  
  
"No, I'm coming," he said, following her behind the stores.  
  
A few minutes later they had cleared the stores and were entering the woods. It was darker in the trees, though the moonlight still shone through.  
  
Alex looked up, then grinned at Bakura. "Check it out. A full moon," she said.  
  
Bakura looked up as well. So it was.  
  
"Watch out for werewolves," she laughed, wiggling her fingers. He grinned at her and shoved his hands in his pockets.  
  
"A full moon on Halloween only happens once in a bunch of years. I don't remember how many though," she said with a shrug. "Well, come on. We're not there yet."  
  
He followed her deeper into the woods until they found a wall. They approached it and looked over to see the creek. The water hypnotized him for a moment before he realized what Alex was doing. She had climbed up on top of the wall and was walking along it. Bakura leaned over the wall once more to see the fall wouldn't be so nice if she were to slip.  
  
"Alex..." he said, following her on the ground.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"That's kind of dangerous," he said and she snorted.  
  
"Please. I've done it plenty of times. I've never fallen before. I have excellent balance," she replied. Then she grinned evilly at him. "Oops, I'm gonna' fall," she said, waving her arms slightly and laughing.  
  
"Alex, come on," Bakura said. "I'd feel better if you came down."  
  
She rolled her eyes and he held out his hand to help her down. She raised her eyebrow at it and jumped down without taking it, making him feel rather stupid.  
  
"Well, come on," she said, nodding her head to the side.  
  
After a few minutes of walking along the wall, Bakura looked at her. "You just walk along the wall? That seems kind of boring if you can't see the water," he said.  
  
Alex rolled her eyes. "Nah, really?" she asked, hitting him in the back of the head. "No, you idiot. Part of the wall was destroyed by a tree a while back. Don't worry, you can see the water from there."  
  
Bakura blushed and nodded, feeling very stupid. They walked in silence, Bakura's hands in his pockets. This silence was killing him.  
  
Then, Alex spoke. "Come on, I'll race you," she said, taking off.  
  
A grin came onto Bakura's face as he picked up his pace after her. "Hey!" he laughed.  
  
As the minutes passed, he started gaining on her. He knew if he didn't slow down he'd run into her again, but now he didn't think he'd mind it.  
  
Alex turned her head to say something to him, but at that moment he caught up. He ran into her, but instead of immediately backing away, he wrapped his arms around her waist.  
  
"Hey! What do you think you're doing! Let go of me you freak!" she cried, pulling at his arms and hitting them.  
  
Ignoring that aspect of it, he moved so his mouth was next to her ear. "No, you've got it wrong. I'm the nerd, /you're/ the freak," he said with a grin.  
  
She stopped struggling for a moment to laugh. Then, she lifted her foot and brought it down hard on his. He stumbled backwards away from her, surprised.  
  
"What was that for?" he asked, wincing slightly in pain.  
  
"Do that again and I'll get physical with /you/," she warned, holding up a fist. As she walked by him, though, he thought he saw a faint trace of a grin on her lips.  
  
He grinned and followed her. As he walked beside her, he got an idea. He reached over and tousled her hair.  
  
"Hey!" she cried.  
  
Laughing, he broke into a run, half for his safety and half for the fun in it.  
  
"You twerp! Get back here!" she cried, chasing him. But he heard the laughter in her voice. "Bakura!"  
  
He laughed and ran around a tree.  
  
"Oh, yeah, right. Like I have no idea where you are," she said, going behind the tree to find him. "What the...?"  
  
As she circled it, so did Bakura. When she leaned around it, he leaned the other way.  
  
"Bakura!" she cried, but her voice held definite laughter. She leaned around the tree and felt his hand touch hers.  
  
He laughed and ran out from behind the tree, following the wall. He heard her call out his name and knew she was chasing him again. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab the back of his shirt, nearly choking him. He lost his balance and fell backwards into Alex.  
  
She was knocked of balance as well and fell to the ground, rolling out of the way before he fell on top of her. Before she could move, he was leaning over her trying to mess with her hair again.  
  
"Get off of me!" she cried, struggling against him. But, she too was laughing. "You loser!" she cried, rolling over on top of him and trying to attack him. He did the same back to her, but neither of them were doing much damage.  
  
They rolled around, for a few minutes, laughing, until they were out of breath.  
  
Bakura was on top of her and he suddenly had a strong urge to kiss her. She was lying on the ground, laughing, and his heart started to skip. He wanted to feel her lips on his, but couldn't get up the courage to do anything about it.  
  
~ If it ain't comin' out,  
  
~ we're not goin' anywhere,  
  
~ so why can't I just tell you that I care?  
  
Finally, she got up the strength to push him off her and sit up. "You loser!" she laughed.  
  
He laughed with her as he sat up on her right. The moonlight was hitting her at just the right angle, making her smile that much more radiant. His breath caught in his throat as he watched her.  
  
"Well, let's go," she said, standing. "Get your butt in gear."  
  
He laughed and stood. They walked in silence, every once in a while grinning at each other. Soon, they came to a fallen tree.  
  
"And we're here," she said, running over to it. It had fallen directly on top of the wall, crushing it and making it crumble around it.  
  
Alex climbed on top of the tree and walked down it through the broken wall. Shrugging, Bakura followed suit. Instead of being just water on the other side of the wall, there was a small beach.  
  
Alex hopped off the log and bent down to pick up a stone. She ran down to the waterline and tried to skip it. It sank after the first skip. She just shrugged.  
  
"I never was much good at that," she said. She saw Bakura come up out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to watch him skim a stone along the surface of the water. It made about five skips before sinking. "Show off," she said, though she was grinning.  
  
He blushed, realizing that was what he had been doing. "You have to find flat ones," he said, picking another stone up and skimming it.  
  
"I know that stupid," she said, hitting him in the back of the head as she passed him, looking for stones. "It's just actually doing it that's the problem."  
  
"It's really easy," he said, watching as she threw another sinker. He suppressed a laugh as she folded her arms and glared at the water.  
  
"If it's so easy, why can't I do it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.  
  
He shrugged and laughed. He skimmed another stone and grinned at her. She scowled and picked up a stone.  
  
"Cut it out or I'll throw this at you," she threatened, though he could see she wouldn't actually do it.  
  
He was enjoying trying her patience, so he skipped another stone across the water and looked at her to see her reaction.  
  
"You suck," she said, trying to skip her stone. She managed to get two hops out of it this time though.  
  
"That was better," he said, smiling.  
  
She shrugged as he skipped another stone. She came up behind him and hit him in the head.  
  
"Now you're just doing it to annoy me," she said.  
  
He turned to her and grinned. "Yeah," he said.  
  
She hit him again in the arm, though she too was grinning. "Leave me alone," she laughed.  
  
"I never have before," he said, following her down the beach.  
  
She rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yeah," she said.  
  
He grinned as she stopped to pick up a stone and try to skip it. It sank on the first skip.  
  
~ If I could say what I wanna' say,  
  
~ I'd say I wanna' blow you -- away.  
  
~ Be with you every night.  
  
~ Am I squeezin' you too tight?  
  
"Shut up," she said as she saw him grinning.  
  
"I didn't say anything," he said, following her again.  
  
"Yeah, but you were thinking it," she replied.  
  
"You don't know what I was thinking," he said, absolutely sure that what he had said was true. - And it's a good thing, too, - he thought.  
  
"Eh, I probably don't want to know," she said, shoving her hands in her pockets.  
  
He just grinned. She caught sight of him and hit him in the back of the head.  
  
"Would you quit staring at me? That's starting to freak me out!" she said, trying to hit him again.  
  
He caught her wrist and held onto it. She brought her other hand around to hit him, but he swung her around, making her lose her balance and fall down.  
  
When she landed in the sand, she looked up at him and blinked before laughing. She reached up and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him down too. They looked at each other and then started to laugh. Alex lay back on the ground and stared up at the sky. She put her hands behind her head as her eyes flitted around, looking at the stars.  
  
Bakura lay on his back next to her and forced himself to look at the sky instead of at her. It was a crystal clear night and there were zillions of stars out as well as the moon. He thought now would be a good time to say something, but he wasn't sure what.  
  
He rolled his head to look at her and again was the urge to kiss her. He wanted to so badly, to just lean over and do it, but he couldn't make his body move.  
  
She saw him out of the corner of her eye and looked at him. "What?" she asked.  
  
He felt as if his heart had stopped. "Nothing," he replied, looking back up at the sky.  
  
Alex lifted her arm and looked at her watch. 11:32. "Eh, we'd better go. The kids should all be home again now."  
  
Bakura nodded reluctantly and sat up with her. "You have sand in your hair," he said, grinning.  
  
"Yeah, well, so do you," she said, shaking her head to get some of the sand out.  
  
He laughed and put an arm up to shield his face. "Hey!"  
  
"Hey is for horses," she said, standing.  
  
Grinning, he followed suit. He didn't want the night to end. He was having fun and he wished he could get up the courage to act on his feelings.  
  
"Well, let's go," she said, heading back towards the tree. With a sigh, he followed, shoving his hands into his pockets.  
  
$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#  
  
By the time they reached her house, Alex was smiling almost as much as Bakura. The day had been fun and she was glad she finally had someone to share it with.  
  
"Yeah, well, see you later," she said, starting up the driveway, putting her hands in her pockets. She touched the velvet box and she pulled it out, turning back to him. She threw it up in the air and caught it again. "Thanks for this," she said.  
  
Bakura smiled at her and nodded a "you're welcome." She put it back in her pocket and turned to go up the driveway when he suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist.  
  
"Alex... wait," he said.  
  
"What?" she asked, turning and looking at him, pulling her wrist out of his grip.  
  
He opened his mouth to speak but the words got lost in his throat. "I... just wanted to say... happy birthday," he said.  
  
"Um, yeah, thanks," she said, giving him an odd look before turning and going up the driveway.  
  
He watched her as she disappeared behind the front door. He sighed and kicked a pebble in the street. He had been so close, if only she hadn't turned around. He looked back at her house one last time, then started home.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
a/n: hehehe I like that chapter. What'd you think? You can only tell me by reviewing... 


	16. Heh Heh?

a/n: Okay, um, this is one of my better connecter chapters. I think it's kinda' cute actually. ^_^ Hope you think so too!  
  
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))  
  
"Yo."  
  
Bakura turned to see Alex come up beside him at their lockers.  
  
"Hi," he said as they simultaneously kicked their lockers open. He grinned at her, but she didn't notice.  
  
"School sucks," Alex grumbled as they headed toward Geometry.  
  
"It's not that bad," he said. - It helps that I get to see you every day. -  
  
She looked at him like he was nuts. "You're crazy. But then, I already knew that."  
  
He laughed and playfully shoved her. Her eyes widened and she shoved him much harder, causing him to stumble backwards slightly. They both laughed and continued to class.  
  
#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$  
  
Bakura was leaning over his paper, tapping his pencil on the table as he thought about one of the questions. He hated pop quizzes. He glanced over at Alex, who was scowling at the paper in front of her. Every time she'd put her pencil to the paper, her hair would fall in her face. She'd push it over her shoulder, only to repeat the process.  
  
- For crying out loud, - she thought, finally tucking her hair behind her ear. That worked better, though it still wasn't perfect. - Next time, tell us when you're going to give us a pop quiz. Then I can put my hair up! -  
  
Bakura watched her shove her hair behind her ear and he felt himself start to soar. She was wearing the earrings he had given her two days ago. He was only able to tear his eyes away from her when the teacher turned around. He was grinning through the rest of the class though. When the teacher took his paper from him at the end, he gave Bakura an odd look as the teen smiled at him.  
  
~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@  
  
"How do you think you did on your quiz?" Alex grumbled as they left the class.  
  
"Um..." he said, trying to remember. In truth, his subconscious had been doing the test. He didn't even remember completing it. "I think I'll get a pretty good grade. What about you?"  
  
She snorted. "Most definitely not. I usually sleep through that class. You know that."  
  
He laughed, knowing it was true. He was constantly prodding her awake when the teacher came by so she didn't get in trouble. She usually slept through all her morning classes.  
  
"The best part of school is lunch. And even that's not so hot 'cause what they serve doesn't qualify as food," she grumbled.  
  
He laughed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he followed her to the cafeteria. Her hair had fallen back over her ear again, but he was still grinning.  
  
"Hey, Bakura!"  
  
He turned to see Tea pushing through the crowd of students. He waved as Alex raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Look, I'll meet you there, all right?" Alex said to him, heading into the cafeteria before he could say anything.  
  
"All... all right," he said, confused as he watched her go.  
  
"Why don't you and Alex eat with us? It's been a while since you've sat with us," Tea said.  
  
"I'm... not sure Alex will go for that," he said, feeling uncomfortable.  
  
"You can't just hang out with her all the time. We're your friends too," Tea said.  
  
"I know," Bakura said, trying to think of something. "I want to hang out with both of you, really, but... at the moment I'm her /only/ friend. I think she kind of... needs me... sort of," he said, feeling his face flush.  
  
Tea studied him for a moment and Bakura felt himself go a brighter shade of scarlet. "Well, all right. I'll tell the gang," she said finally.  
  
"Thanks," he said, trying to drain the color from his face.  
  
She nodded in response. "What'd you do for her birthday?"  
  
"Oh, we went to see a movie that turned out to be a waste of time. You should have heard the way she complained about it afterwards!" he said and they both laughed. "We had dinner and... um... that's pretty much it," he said, blushing.  
  
"It sounds like you had fun," she said.  
  
He nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Why doesn't she like us?" Tea asked.  
  
"Um... I'm not sure. I'll ask her," he said.  
  
"Okay. Are you coming to the game shop later?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah," he said.  
  
"Okay, see you then I guess," she said, entering the cafeteria.  
  
Bakura sighed and followed her in. This could prove to be slightly complicated if Alex didn't like his friends. He sat down across from Alex and she glanced up.  
  
"What took so long?" she asked.  
  
"Um, we were arranging to meet at the game shop later," he said.  
  
Alex raised her eyebrow and he blushed.  
  
"Uh, no, with the gang. As friends," he said quickly.  
  
"Ah," she said simply. "You're quick to say that," she said, stirring her spoon through her mashed potatoes.  
  
He felt his face flush a deeper shade. "N-no, we're really not going out," he said.  
  
She looked up at him and studied his eyes a moment, making him envy the turtle and it's nice cozy shell to hide in. "All right," she said finally, dropping her gaze back down to the mashed potatoes she was playing with.  
  
He watched her swirl the potatoes around for a minute. "You like stirring things around. Is there any particular reason why?"  
  
"Nah, not really," she said. "It's a habit I guess."  
  
"But not a nervous habit?" he asked, grinning.  
  
She looked up at him and glared. "No, not a /nervous/ habit. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. It's just a habit."  
  
"All right," he said, unable to take his eyes off her. "Um, can I ask you something?"  
  
"You just did," she said, glancing up at him, making him blush. "Yeah, go ahead."  
  
"Why don't you like the gang?" he asked.  
  
She stared at him. "I dunno', they're just not my crowd I guess."  
  
"Would you say I'm your crowd?" he asked.  
  
She blinked at him. "Erm... not really," she said slowly, trying to figure out where he was going with this.  
  
"So, why do you hang out with me and not with them?" he asked.  
  
She stared at him. "Does it matter?" she asked.  
  
"Well, yeah, sort of," he said.  
  
She sighed and leaned her chin in her hand, going back to stirring her mashed potatoes. "Erm... I don't know," she said. She thought about it a minute. - I suppose because he was the only one that came over to me and tried to be nice. - She glanced up and saw him studying her. "What?"  
  
"There has to be a reason," he said, tilting his head slightly to the side.  
  
She sighed. "All right, fine. The only reason I even bothered with you is 'cause you're the only one who tried to be nice to me."  
  
His eyes widened slightly in surprise. "...Oh," he said, feeling his face flush again. He hadn't expected that answer. "They're nice too," he said.  
  
She raised her eyebrow. "Look. I don't hang out with geeks. You're the only exception to that rule, all right?"  
  
Fighting not to blush, he nodded. "All right," he said.  
  
"So you're gonna' chill with them today?" she asked.  
  
He nodded, feeling very self conscious. "Yeah."  
  
"That's cool. You have been ditching them a bit," she said and he went bright red.  
  
"Um..." he tried. He'd have given anything at that moment to be the turtle.  
  
She grinned at his embarrassment. "You're blushing," she said, knowing it would embarrass him more.  
  
She was right. He felt like he was probably radiating heat. "Um..." he stuttered, making her laugh. He leaned his elbow on the table and put his forehead in his hand in an attempt to hide his face.  
  
"Oh how /cute/," she said, grinning evilly and making him want to go hide under a rock.  
  
He heard her get up from the table and took his face out of his hand to watch her dump her tray and hitch her backpack onto her shoulder. She turned back to him and he fought not to blush again.  
  
"Are you coming?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah," he said, getting up and grabbing his backpack. He didn't get a good hold on it and it slipped from his hand and he looked like an idiot trying to catch it. He heard Alex cracking up and he didn't dare look at her as he managed to hitch his backpack onto his shoulders.  
  
"Smooth, real smooth," she laughed as he passed her.  
  
"Shut up," he said, his face beet red.  
  
"I wish I had that on film," she said, grinning.  
  
He gave a nervous laugh and avoided looking at her.  
  
"Eh, come on," she said, elbowing him. "I bet you're used to making an idiot out of yourself by now."  
  
He looked at her and elbowed her back. "No, not really," he said defiantly. Then he added, "You never really get /used/ to it."  
  
She cracked up and had to stop a minute to catch her breath. Bakura stopped and looked at her, grinning as well. It seemed worth the embarrassment to hear her laugh.  
  
"All right, it wasn't /that/ funny," he said, grinning.  
  
"Yeah, right," she said. "Come on, we gotta' get to class."  
  
He nodded and followed her, a grin still on his face.  
  
*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*&*  
  
a/n: Okay, the next chapter will take place when Bakura hangs out with the gang... I think... heh heh, just review and I'll post... er... something, okay? 


	17. The Game Shop

Bakura ran down the steps to the school to meet the gang. He jumped the last few, then ran over to his friends.  
  
"Hi!" he said happily. He was in an extraordinarily good mood. After spending the day with Alex he usually was.  
  
"Hi!" Tea said.  
  
"You're in a good mood," Tristan commented.  
  
Bakura simply nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Come on, are we goin' to Yugi's or not?" Joey asked, starting down the road.  
  
The gang nodded and followed Joey. Bakura looked over his shoulder to see Alex head down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. As he watched, she bent down to pick up an old soda can from the grass. She lifted her arms in the air and tossed it into the trashcan a few feet away from her. He held in a laugh as she punched the air and pretended like she had just scored in basketball. Then she suddenly looked around to see if anyone saw her and shoved her hands in her pockets as she continued down the sidewalk.  
  
"Hey, Bakura," Joey said, waving his hand in front of his friend's face. "You okay?"  
  
Bakura's head snapped around and he blushed. "Uh... yeah," he said.  
  
Yugi and Tea exchanged looks that Bakura didn't see. They walked in silence until they reached the shop. The gang greeted Grandpa Motou and headed upstairs. When they entered Yugi's room, they just sort of sat around silent for a moment.  
  
- This is a little weird, - Bakura thought. "Is something wrong?" he asked.  
  
Tea shook her head, then grinned. "Are we having a repeat of Elsie?" she asked.  
  
Bakura stared at her and blushed furiously. "Ahhh... no... uh..." he stuttered, remembering Elsie Bridges.  
  
The gang just grinned.  
  
"Well, Alex is better than Elsie, that's for sure," Yugi said.  
  
Bakura's face flushed a deeper red. "What? N-no... Alex and I are just friends..." he stuttered.  
  
"Bakura, practically the whole school knows the only time you run into things is when you like a girl," Tristan said.  
  
Bakura stared at him. "N-no... I... we...we're just friends... that's all!"  
  
"Maybe, but that's not really what you want, is it?" Tea asked.  
  
Bakura stared at her, color flooding his face. His heart was pounding in his nervousness. He felt rather stupid; the second girl he'd liked in a year. Joey and Tristan would never let him live it down.  
  
"It was pretty funny when you dropped your backpack," Yugi said and the gang laughed, making Bakura flush.  
  
"I... I didn't get a good hold on it," he stammered.  
  
"She obviously doesn't have a clue," Tea said, in a matter-of-fact sort of tone.  
  
"Um... that's good," Bakura said, wishing the ground would open up and swallow him.  
  
"So you're admitting it?" Joey asked.  
  
Bakura wanted to disappear. "N-no... I..."  
  
"He doesn't have to admit it, Joey. It was pretty obvious when he walked into the locker the other day," Yugi said.  
  
"That wasn't my fault! I didn't see the girl open the door!" Bakura protested.  
  
"Because you were looking at Alex," Tristan said with a grin.  
  
"Um... she had just said something that surprised me, that's all," he said.  
  
"What'd she say?" Joey asked.  
  
"She... wanted to know if I'd go the arcade with her," he said.  
  
Tea laughed. "No wonder you walked into the locker!"  
  
Bakura put a hand over his face to hide the fact he was blushing. "You were better when it was Elsie," he said.  
  
Joey scowled. "No, we were trying to talk you out of Elsie," he said.  
  
"Well, you weren't poking fun at me then," Bakura said, taking his face out of his hand.  
  
"We're not poking fun," Yugi said. "It's just sort of..."  
  
"Cute," Tea finished, making Bakura cover his face again.  
  
"All right, how is this any different than Elsie?" Bakura asked, looking back at them.  
  
"Well, for one thing, Alex isn't a prep," Joey said.  
  
"Yeah, Elsie was a real snob," Tea said.  
  
"Snob doesn't begin to describe it," Tristan groaned.  
  
"Alex may have attitude, but she's a heck of a lot nicer than Elsie. Especially to you," Tea said with a grin.  
  
Bakura blushed, realizing it was true. She was nicer to him than to anyone else, except for maybe David. He began to think of the times she had laughed at him and wondered if maybe... No. He wasn't going to start analyzing everything she did. That was pathetic.  
  
"Yeah, did you ever wonder why you're the only one who she'll smile at or talk civilly to?" Yugi asked.  
  
"Uh... no, not really," Bakura said, thinking about it. "Wait, no, I'm not. David too. She's nice to her little brother."  
  
"That's different," Tea said.  
  
"Why?" Bakura asked.  
  
"He's family, Bakura. She has to be nice to him," Tristan said.  
  
Bakura laughed. "No, no she doesn't. She tries to hit her si-mother," he said, stopping himself. He hoped his friends wouldn't catch it.  
  
They didn't show any sign of it.  
  
"She tries to hit her /mother/?" Tea asked incredulously.  
  
Bakura nodded. "According to David, all the time," he said.  
  
"They don't get along very well I guess," Yugi said.  
  
"They're fighting whenever they're in the same room," Bakura said.  
  
"Oh," Tea said.  
  
Bakura checked his watch. 4:12 p.m. He wanted to go home; this conversation was making him very uneasy and embarrassed. "Um... I have to get home. I promised dad I'd help him with dinner," he lied.  
  
"But you just got here!" Joey said.  
  
"I know, sorry, I forgot about dad. I'll see you tomorrow, though," Bakura said, standing up from the bed.  
  
"All right," Tea said. "Bye and good luck with Alex."  
  
Bakura flushed and turned towards the door. "R-right. Bye."  
  
He quickly ran down the stairs and waved to Grandpa Motou as he left the shop. Breathing in relief, he shoved his hands in his pockets and headed home. When the gang had asked him if he wanted to come over, he hadn't known that /that/ was going to be the conversation. He never would have agreed in the first place had he known /that/.  
  
The days were getting colder as each passed. He shivered as a strong wind blew a few dead leaves by him. He found himself wondering what Alex was doing. All right, so maybe he was being slightly pathetic. If he was alone, he could be as pathetic as he wanted.  
  
He smiled to himself and kicked a pebble down the street. After a moment, his smile faded slightly. He remembered how he had dropped his backpack and how Alex had called him on his blush. Did she know? Or was she clueless? If she knew, would she do anything about it, or let him make a fool out of himself? Was she secretly laughing at him, or did she feel something back? He saw no indication of feelings on her end, but was she just hiding it? If she was, she was certainly a good actress.  
  
He snapped out of his thoughts as he walked past Alex's house. He stopped a moment and looked up the driveway. The car was in the driveway, which meant Jade was home. Alex probably wasn't to happy about that. He sighed at his lack of nerves and continued home.  
  
He opened his front door a few minutes later and closed it behind him. "Dad," he called. "I'm home!"  
  
"In here, son!" his father called back from another room.  
  
Bakura followed his voice into the kitchen. Mr. Ryou was lying on his back under the sink, a toolbox next to him. "What are you doing?" Bakura laughed, kneeling down beside his father.  
  
"Fixing the sink," Mr. Ryou replied. "Hand me that wrench." He held out his hand and Bakura put the wrench in it.  
  
He watched his father crank a nut a few times. Suddenly, one of the pipes shot water out at his face. Mr. Ryou pushed himself out from under the sink and sat up, his shirt and hair plastered to his body.  
  
"It has a bit of an attitude problem," he commented, pushing his hair out of his eyes. He took off his glasses and started to wipe them off on his shirt, only to find it wasn't drying them. He shook his head and replaced them on his nose.  
  
Bakura laughed. "Maybe you should call a plumber," he said.  
  
"Nonsense," Mr. Ryou said. "I can take this thing." With that, he moved back under the sink with the wrench. "Hey, Bakura?"  
  
"Yeah?" his son asked.  
  
"Did you see which nut I turned a few minutes ago? There's about three of them here and I can't remember which one it was."  
  
Bakura cracked up and couldn't respond. His father slid back out and sat up. He watched his son laugh for a moment, then started to himself. Soon both of them were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe.  
  
When they finally managed to get control of themselves, Mr. Ryou took off his glasses again and reached over to Bakura, drying them on his shirt.  
  
"Hey!" Bakura laughed.  
  
Mr. Ryou put them back on his face and looked at his son. "There, that's much better. Now you actually look like you're from this planet."  
  
Bakura laughed and looked at his father, who was drenched from the uncooperative pipe.  
  
"Say, why don't we go out tonight? We'll go to a movie and then go to dinner, what do you say?" Mr. Ryou said.  
  
"Yeah, okay," Bakura replied happily. "You might want to change first, though."  
  
His father laughed. "You sure have a way of stating the obvious," he said, standing.  
  
"It's a talent," Bakura said and they laughed. "Are you going to clean this up first?"  
  
Mr. Ryou looked down at the toolbox and the multiple tools lying around the floor. "Nah. I'll get when we come back."  
  
Bakura shrugged. "Okay," he said.  
  
"I'll be right back. I have to go dry off," his father laughed, indicating his shirt. He went upstairs to change and Bakura headed into the living room.  
  
With a glance at the stairs, he picked up the phone and dialed the number for the local plumber. If his father was left to do it, the hot water knob would spout cold and vice versa.  
  
$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$##$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#$#  
  
a/n: lol The next chapter will be Bakura and his dad's night out. How are you liking it? You know how to tell me... 


	18. A Day With Dad

Bakura was sitting on the couch when his father came down the stairs. He looked over the back of the couch as Mr. Ryou came over.  
  
"Ready?" he asked his son.  
  
Bakura nodded and stood up. They headed for the door, grabbing their jackets on the way. His father was having a bit of trouble with his, though. It was lined and he was having a hard time figuring out whether it was inside out or not. Bakura laughed and took it from him. He gave it a few shakes and handed it back to his father.  
  
"See, I knew I had you for a reason," Mr. Ryou said, putting on the jacket. Bakura laughed as they left the house.  
  
They got into the car and Mr. Ryou started the engine. "So, what movie are we going to see?" he asked, looking at Bakura.  
  
Bakura shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
"What's playing?" Mr. Ryou tried again.  
  
"I don't know," Bakura said after a moment of thought.  
  
"You're a teenager and you don't know what's playing in the theater?" his father asked, looking at him briefly.  
  
"Well, the movies change just about every week," Bakura said.  
  
"Weren't you just there with Alex?" Mr. Ryou asked.  
  
"Um... well, yeah, but I can't remember what's there except for the one we don't want to see," Bakura laughed.  
  
"And which one's that?"  
  
"Cabin Fever. It was awful," he said.  
  
"Well, we're not going to that then," Mr. Ryou said, adjusting the rearview mirror.  
  
"There was one called Graveyard Shift. It looked interesting," Bakura said, remembering.  
  
"What's it about?"  
  
"Um... that's a good question. It was based on a book, though," he said, remembering what the poster outside the theater had said.  
  
"Who's book?" his father asked.  
  
"Stephen King, I think."  
  
"Oh, yeah. I've read some of his books," Mr. Ryou said, pulling into the theater.  
  
They got out and looked at the posters, just to be sure Graveyard Shift was the one they wanted to see. They agreed that it was and Mr. Ryou bought the tickets. They entered the theater and took seats near the back so they wouldn't have to strain to see the screen.  
  
As he sat down, Bakura could feel a slight tinge of color work it's way into his cheeks as he remembered sitting in the dark theater with Alex only a few days ago. He breathed, reminding himself that Alex wasn't here now and it might be embarrassing if his father saw him blushing for no apparent reason. The movie started a few minutes later and Bakura was glad for that.  
  
It turned out that Graveyard Shift must have been better as a book because it wasn't a very good movie. It was about an old factory that was overrun with rats and there was a mutant bat in the basement that kept eating people. There was a secret passageway in the basement that led to the mutant bat's "house" if you will. It ended by the hero killing the overgrown thing.  
  
"Well, that wasn't as good as I expected," Mr. Ryou said as they left the theater.  
  
Bakura nodded. "It isn't our week for movies I guess," he said.  
  
"Maybe it's you!" his father said, making Bakura laugh.  
  
They got into the car and Mr. Ryou looked at his son. "Where are we eating?" he asked.  
  
Bakura thought a moment and had to fight not to blush at the idea that came to him. "Um... well, there's Victoria's..." he said, knowing he was pink.  
  
"All right, Victoria's it is. They do have good food," Mr. Ryou said, maneuvering the car onto the road.  
  
Bakura looked out the window to hide the grin he couldn't get off his face. Half of him hoped that Alex would be at the restaurant, but the other half was telling him to be careful what he wished for.  
  
~ If I could say what I want to say,  
  
~ I'd say I wanna' blow you -- away.  
  
~ Be with you every night...  
  
"You're rather quiet today, Bakura," his father said, glancing at his son. "What's on your mind?"  
  
"Um... nothing..." Bakura replied, looking at Mr. Ryou. He knew his father wouldn't tease him if he told him about Alex, but it wasn't the sort of thing he felt comfortable telling people. He knew he'd never hear the end of it from the gang. Why was it that he could feel only friendship for Tea, be completely head over heels for Alex? If things made sense, wouldn't it be the other way around?  
  
His father pulled up at Victoria's a few minutes later and they got out. As they entered the restaurant, Bakura found himself glancing around the restaurant for Alex.  
  
"Are you looking for someone, son?"  
  
Bakura snapped his head to his father and blushed. "No... no, I'm not."  
  
The subject was dropped then because the hostess greeted them. She led them to a table in a different room than Bakura had been in with Alex. He suddenly remembered the waitress they had had and his stomach dropped. That would be the /last/ thing he needed; to have Sam wait on them. Silently praying Sam wasn't on that night, he sat down across from his father.  
  
The hostess set the menus on the table and left to attend new costumers. Mr. Ryou and Bakura picked up their menus, but Bakura's eyes weren't on his menu. They were following the new costumers. He only recognized one of them, but that was all he needed. He immediately felt his face redden as Jade sat down with her male companion a few table away. She didn't notice him and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.  
  
"Something wrong?"  
  
Bakura looked at his father, who was watching him with an odd look. "No... I just... I'm fine," he replied, quickly looking at his menu.  
  
This was very odd for Bakura to act like this. Mr. Ryou watched his son's eyes flit over the menu so fast it was very clear he wasn't reading it. His son never usually kept things from him and he was curious about what it was that Bakura felt he had to hide.  
  
Mr. Ryou saw his son's eyes dart quickly over to a table a few yards away, then back to his menu. When he looked where Bakura had, he saw an attractive girl in her early twenties sitting with a young man. She had deep red hair that flowed over her shoulders gently and she was smiling at the man who sat across from her.  
  
Mr. Ryou saw Bakura glance at her a few more times and finally he set down his menu and looked at his son. "Do you know her?" he asked, making Bakura look up nervously.  
  
He looked over at Jade sitting with who he guessed must be Rick. "Um... s-sort of," he stuttered. - It's Jade, not Alex. Get a grip on yourself! -  
  
- Is she one of his teachers? She's attractive, I suppose he could have a crush on her. - "Who is she?" Mr. Ryou questioned lightly.  
  
"Um... Jade. She's Alex's older sister," Bakura replied.  
  
"Oh. Surprised to see her I take it," his father said as a waitress came over.  
  
"Sort of," Bakura said, breathing in relief when the waitress came.  
  
She had blonde hair that was tied back and wore slacks and a green tee shirt. "I'm so sorry it took a little while but we're kind of busy tonight," she said, apologetically.  
  
"That's all right," Mr. Ryou said kindly.  
  
"I'm Cindy, and I'll be your server. I'm kind of new here, so if I fall on my face, feel free to disclaim me as your waitress," she said and Bakura and his father laughed. "What'll you have to drink?"  
  
"Um... coke," Bakura said, making his father look at him in slight surprise.  
  
"Decaf coffee for me," Mr. Ryou said. "Could I get that with regular milk?"  
  
"Sure," Cindy said, jotting it down in her pad. "I'll be back with that in a few minutes."  
  
Bakura went back to his menu to look at what he wanted for his meal, while Mr. Ryou leaned on the table and looked at his son. "Since when do you drink coke?" he asked, confused.  
  
Bakura looked up at his father. "Um... I drink coke all the time with the gang," he said, attempting to look his father in the eye, but failing.  
  
"You're acting very weird, Bakura. What's happening? Is there something I should know?" Mr. Ryou asked.  
  
"No, there's nothing," Bakura said, smiling innocently.  
  
"All right," Mr. Ryou said slowly, looking down at his menu and Bakura went back to his.  
  
Bakura was interrupted however, by someone saying his name.  
  
"Bakura?"  
  
He snapped his head up to see Jade standing over him. "Oh... hi!" he said.  
  
"I didn't expect to see you! It's a shame Alex isn't here. She refused to come to dinner with me and Rick. She's going to regret that, I'm sure," Jade said with a smile.  
  
Bakura blushed, and grinned sheepishly. "Um... yeah... uh... just tell her I said hi. I'll see her in class tomorrow."  
  
Mr. Ryou cleared his throat to catch his son's attention. Bakura looked at him and understood. "Oh! Um... Jade, this is my dad. Dad, this is Alex's sister, Jade."  
  
Jade shook Mr. Ryou's hand and they nodded at each other.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Mr. Ryou said.  
  
"You too. Well, do you want to meet Rick?" Jade asked Bakura.  
  
"Um... sure..." Bakura said slowly, feeling rather embarrassed. He got up and followed Jade to her table.  
  
"Rick, this is Bakura. He's a friend of Alex's," Jade said with a grin.  
  
"Ahh, the famous Bakura. So good to finally put a face to the name," Rick said, shaking the teen's hand.  
  
"Famous?" Bakura asked, going rather red.  
  
"Jade's told me all about you," Rick said as Jade sat down.  
  
"...Oh..." Bakura said, looking at her.  
  
She laughed nervously. "Yeah well, if Alex has a good friend it's kind of big news around our house. She apparently would trust you with her life if she told you about our parents. I take that is how you found out I'm her sister."  
  
"Um... yeah," Bakura said, flattered, but embarrassed none the less.  
  
"Well, I'll let you get back to your father. It was good to see you and I'll be sure to rub this in Alex's face when I get home," Jade said, grinning.  
  
"Um... just telling her I said hi would be fine," he said nervously.  
  
Jade and Rick laughed, making Bakura blush harder. "Well, I'll do that too," she said.  
  
"It was good to meet you," Rick said and Bakura nodded before heading back to his own table.  
  
He sat down and didn't look at his father. Instead, he picked up his menu as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Mr. Ryou studied him a minute, assessing his son's red face.  
  
"Well, Jade's attractive, isn't she?" Mr. Ryou said finally, attempting to worm something out of his son.  
  
But he surprised his father by looking over at Jade and shrugging. "I guess. But she's too old for me and too young for you," he said, going back to his menu.  
  
- Well it obviously isn't Jade. - It was almost as if a light bulb had gone off over Mr. Ryou's head and he grinned and nodded to himself. He looked down at his menu and casually said, "Well then, it must be Alex that has you the same color as a beet."  
  
Bakura's head snapped up to his father, color surging through his face. "N-no... I don't... I mean... what?" he stuttered, giving his father his answer.  
  
- Bingo. - "I knew something was going on," Mr. Ryou said, looking at his son, who looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock and die. "But I think I met the wrong sister... hmmm?"  
  
"N-no... Alex isn't... I mean I... We're just friends..." Bakura stammered. - Well, there's nothing like obvious, - he thought dryly, frustrated with himself that he couldn't even make a full sentence.  
  
Mr. Ryou raised his hands in surrender style. "I wasn't accusing you of anything, no need to get defensive. Being obvious is always a good policy I say."  
  
"It... I'm not like this around /her/... most of the time she's the one doing the talking..." Bakura said, bright red as Cindy came by the table with their drinks.  
  
"Do you know what you're getting?" she asked them with a smile.  
  
"Um... yeah... I'll have the shrimp alfredo," Bakura said, copying what he had gotten when he had been out with Alex.  
  
"Lasagna sounds good," his father said, looking at the menu one final time.  
  
"All right. I'll get it out as soon as possible," Cindy said as the Ryous handed her their menus.  
  
Bakura was left with nothing to but hold a conversation with his father, something he wasn't sure he wanted to do.  
  
"When'd it start?" Mr. Ryou asked, sipping his coffee.  
  
"Um..." Bakura replied, trying to remember while his face burned. "I... I guess when she was sick," he said, sipping his coke to avoid looking at his father.  
  
Mr. Ryou just chuckled.  
  
- What does that mean? - Bakura thought.  
  
"So, does Jade know?"  
  
"I... don't think so," Bakura replied, wishing his dad would stop interrogating him.  
  
Mr. Ryou grinned, knowing he was making his son uncomfortable. "I thought you were going over to Yugi's today," he said, changing the subject.  
  
"Um... we had to cancel because he had stuff to do," Bakura lied, thankful the subject had been changed.  
  
"Ahh... well, I'm glad. Now I can spend time with you," his father said and Bakura smiled, still slightly red.  
  
Nothing more was said about Alex as the night went on. When they got home, Bakura had to fight with his father about the sink. Mr. Ryou wanted to continue fixing it and wasn't too happy when his son told him that he had called the plumber. But, Bakura managed to convince his father that he knew nothing about plumbing and should let an expert handle it. He reminded his father about the time he tried to fix the toilet...  
  
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a/n: heh heh... you're just going to have to use your imagination on that one. Well, you know the drill. 


	19. Preps

a/n: This started out as a REALLY long chapter, but I split it up because I wanted more chapters. Er... the next one will posted in short order because it's already been written. In these two, you'll learn more about Alex. Well, just read 'em, kay? ^_^  
  
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Alex lay on her bed, her CD player blaring. David was in his room and the loud music didn't bother him. In fact, he liked Linkin Park almost as much as Alex.  
  
Neither of them heard Jade come home. It was only brought to Alex's attention when her sister flung open her door.  
  
"Don't you knock?" she snapped over the music.  
  
Jade smirked. "Turn that down. I've got something you'll want to hear."  
  
"What? Are you pregnant with Rick's kid or something?" Alex retorted.  
  
Jade's face went serious for a moment. "Alex, that's not something to be joked about."  
  
"Who cares? Get out of my room."  
  
Growing aggravated, Jade stormed over to the CD player and shut it off.  
  
"Hey!" Alex cried, leaping off the bed and grabbing her sister's shirt collar. "I was listening to that! Keep off my stuff!"  
  
"Get off of me," Jade snarled, throwing her sister's hand off of her. She took a few steps backward, seeing the all too familiar fire blaze in Alex's eyes. "You'll be interested to know who I saw at Victoria's today."  
  
"Who? Rick?" Alex snapped, her fists clenched.  
  
"Very funny. Try Bakura and his father," Jade replied, folding her arms and smirking.  
  
Alex snorted. "So? What are you dating his dad now?"  
  
"Alex, I'm not dating his father, no. That would mean you couldn't date Bakura," Jade said.  
  
Outraged, Alex lunged at her sister with a yell. Before Jade had a chance to react, she had been slammed against the wall and was being held there by her throat. Jade grabbed at her younger sister's hand, gasping for breath. A slight panic flood through her at the fury in Alex's eyes.  
  
"I'm not dating him. I will never date him. If you so much as mention this again... to anyone... I swear, I won't let go next time," Alex threatened in a low hiss. She pulled her hand away sharply and her sister gasped for breath, touching her throat.  
  
"Alex, what's wrong with you?" Jade choked. "You haven't been the same ever since..."  
  
"I've changed Jade, that's right. And you'll learn to deal with it, or you'll wake up to find I'm not here any more," Alex threatened.  
  
Jade's eyes grew wide as she rubbed her throat. "Alex, come on... you've never done it before," she said.  
  
"You don't think I will?" Alex yelled, storming over to her end table. She grabbed her pen knife off of it and in one swift move had the blade out. Before Jade had a chance to say anything, Alex had brought the knife down on her arm, cutting a slit in her bare skin. Immediately blood started to ooze from it, but she was oblivious to the pain because of her fury.  
  
"Alex!" Jade cried, panic flooding through her at the sight of her sister. "Alex, come on!"  
  
"Get out of my room," Alex snarled, holding the knife above her arm, ready to bring it down again.  
  
"Give me the knife," Jade said, holding out her hand.  
  
"No friggin' way," her sister snapped. But, she did fold the blade inside and throw it across the floor into a corner of the room.  
  
Petrified, Jade nodded and backed over to Alex's door. She left quickly and Alex stormed over to her door, slamming it shut. The pain started to flood into her arm as her anger lessened. She cursed under her breath and pressed her hand over her cut.  
  
It wasn't the first time she had threatened her sister with her life. Sometimes it was the only way to get her to leave her alone. She wasn't afraid to cut herself, but she didn't find it fun either. It might not hurt at first when she did it out of fury, but afterwards she regretted it.  
  
As blood soaked her hand and trickled down her arm, Alex kicked open one of her drawers and grabbed a towel out of it. She pressed it against her arm and winced. She knew she hadn't cut herself to the point of stitches, but it was worse than usual.  
  
The towel she used was stained a deep red from previous times she had used it. Once white, it now constantly looked filthy, no matter how many times it was washed.  
  
Alex headed to her door and opened it. She ran past her brother's open door and locked herself in the bathroom. He didn't know she did this and it would petrify him if he found out.  
  
She took the towel off her arm and ran the water in the sink. She splashed it on her arm and winced as the water entered the cut, rinsing away the blood. When her cut was free of blood, she quickly shut of the tap and dried it with the towel. Before it started to bleed again, Alex grabbed her blood stained ace bandage and wrapped it tightly around her arm. She picked up her towel and opened the bathroom door. On her way back to her room, she opened the closet door and tossed the towel into the laundry basket.  
  
"Alex?" David called, leaning back in his chair to see her through his doorway.  
  
She ignored him, not wanting him to see the bandage around her arm. Instead, she entered her room and slammed the door behind her. She dug through her closet and found a black, long sleeved shirt that said across the front in white lettering, "Dysfunctional." She quickly changed her shirt and threw her tee-shirt into the closet, shutting the door.  
  
Sighing in disgust, she dropped onto her bed, punching the "play" button on her CD player. Immediately Linkin Park blared through the house once more.  
  
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By the next morning, her cut had scabbed and she removed her bandage, throwing that to be laundered as well. She put on her "Dysfunctional" shirt again and black jeans with her chains. She threw her hair up into a messy bun and applied her make up. Choosing lip gloss today instead of her black lipstick, she grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs.  
  
Leaving the house without a word to Jade, she slammed the door behind her. She hitched her backpack up onto her shoulder as she made her way down the road. The cool breeze blew her bangs into her eyes and she pushed them out of her face.  
  
"Alex!"  
  
She groaned, knowing who it was that was running to keep up with her. "What do you want?" she snapped.  
  
"Wait for me!" Bakura panted, hitching his backpack onto his shoulders as he ran after her.  
  
"You're running and I'm walking. You'll catch up," she replied.  
  
He made it to her side, breathing heavily. "Hi," he said.  
  
She just sighed.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her quizzically.  
  
"I'm fine," she grumbled, the memory of the night before still fresh in her mind.  
  
"Um... okay," Bakura said, catching his breath. - I wonder what's wrong. -  
  
Bakura made a few more failed attempts at conversation before they reached the school. After that it was pretty much the usual hustle and bustle until lunch.  
  
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!  
  
Alex didn't bother with taking lunch that day. Instead she just followed Bakura outside and sat down next to him against a tree. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Alex staring up at the sky.  
  
Finally, Bakura couldn't stand the silence any longer. "You're rather quiet today. Is something wrong?" he asked.  
  
"The usual morons," she grumbled.  
  
"Right. Um... did Jade mention I saw her at Victoria's yesterday?" he asked.  
  
Alex snorted. "Yeah."  
  
Bakura felt his face flush. "Um... well, I've met Rick. He seems nice," he said, struggling to keep conversation going.  
  
Alex stared at him like he had a hole in his head. "You're kidding me, right? He's a bigger freak than you."  
  
"Oh, well, I'm glad there's /someone/ weirder than me," he kidded.  
  
Alex snorted with slight amusement, then went back to staring at the sky, rubbing her left forearm lightly.  
  
Bakura watched her for a moment, noting the distant way she was acting. "Alex, I know there's something wrong, what is it?" he asked finally.  
  
Alex sighed, letting her hand fall to her side. "If I tell you, you can't tell anyone, do you swear?" she asked, penetrating his kind eyes with her cold ones.  
  
"Yeah, all right," he said, slight concern in his face.  
  
She opened her mouth to speak, but never got the words out. At that moment, the doors to the school opened and five girls came outside. Alex snarled over Bakura's shoulder, making him turn around in confusion.  
  
- Oh, no, - he thought at the sight of the preps.  
  
They came over and Alex stood to face them, fists clenched. Bakura stood as well in case Alex attempted anything.  
  
"You must be the weirdest couple I've ever seen," Darcy said, looking Alex and Bakura up and down.  
  
Alex's eyes blazed as she glared at them. "Get out of here before I make you," she snarled.  
  
The leader of the group, Rita, snorted. "We're not afraid of you. Your friend won't let you hit us. We can say anything we want and you can't do a thing about it," she said, beginning to circle Alex.  
  
Alex yelled and lunged at her, making Rita stumble backwards a few steps. Bakura quickly wrapped his arms around his friend's waist, stopping her from getting any closer to the prep.  
  
"Alex! This is ridiculous!" he said, struggling to keep a hold on her.  
  
"Bakura let go of me!" Alex yelled, stamping on his foot.  
  
He winced, but held on. "Alex, come on, stop!"  
  
The preps were laughing hysterically. "Aw, see, Bakura won't let his girlfriend hurt us. How /sweet/. He must still like you, Elsie," Brittany said, looking over at the blonde who was admiring her nails.  
  
"You /what/?" Alex screamed, spinning around in Bakura's arms to face him. She shoved him off of her and he stumbled backwards into the tree. "You like one of /them/?" she screeched. "What's /wrong/ with you?"  
  
"N-no!" Bakura started, feeling his face flush.  
  
But Alex had already rounded on the preps again. She lunged at Julie, but Bakura leapt off the tree and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Let go of me, Ryou!" she screamed, trying to wrench her arm out of his grip.  
  
The use of his last name stung, and it was just enough to manage to get up the guts to twist her arm behind her back. She cried out and he immediately regretted doing it, though he only loosened his hold slightly.  
  
"Let go of me!" she screamed, fighting him, though it did no good.  
  
"Ooooh, little miss tough has been beaten by a /geek/," Rita taunted and the others laughed, making Alex's eyes blaze.  
  
"Go back inside, or I'll let go of her," Bakura said. At this point he was actually considering it.  
  
"You won't let go of her," Elsie hissed in his ear as she passed behind him. Bakura blushed in both anger and embarrassment.  
  
"You sick freak," Alex snarled at him. "Get off of me or I swear I'll kill you when you finally do let go."  
  
"I'll let go! Go inside or I will!" Bakura said to the preps. He caught Elsie's eye and glared at her.  
  
She elbowed Rita and nodded her head towards the school doors. "Come on. Let's go. I'm getting bored," she said.  
  
Rita looked at her like she was insane, but when she saw the slightly nervous look in her friend's eyes, she agreed. "Come on. But tomorrow it'll be all the rage that Alex the punk and Bakura the geek are dating," she said with an evil grin.  
  
"It will not!" Alex screamed after them as they reentered the school. "I'll kill you! Get /off/ me!" She stamped on Bakura's foot and he pushed her up against the wall. "Let go of me!"  
  
"Alex! Calm down!" He cried, still holding her arm behind her back.  
  
"I swear to God if you don't let go of me I'll kill you!" she screeched.  
  
He quickly spun her around to face him, pinning her to the wall by her shoulders. "You won't hurt me," he said, praying he was right.  
  
Alex glared at him. "You may be stronger than me but I have knees and you could very well find one of them where you'd rather not," she threatened.  
  
Bakura fought the urge to wince and managed to keep his face straight. "Do it then," he said, surprised at his own daring. He hoped against hope she was bluffing.  
  
She glared at him a minute. "Did you seriously like that prep?" she snarled.  
  
This caught Bakura off guard and he broke eye contact. His grip on her shoulders loosened slightly in his embarrassment. "When I first moved here but..." he started, but suddenly found himself flying backwards. He struggled to keep his balance as he stumbled.  
  
Alex lunged at him and grabbed his shirt collar. She slammed him into the tree, putting a hand to his throat and holding on. "I could so easily put you in the hospital, do you really want to mess with me?" she hissed.  
  
"Alex..." Bakura choked, gripping at her hand. "Let go..."  
  
Alex struggled with herself a moment, unable to speak through fury. She lifted her other fist to punch him in the face and Bakura squeezed his eyes shut, still struggling for breath. But her hand hovered there, unable to move, no matter how much she wanted to hit him. With a frustrated yell, she removed her hand from his throat sharply and he slid down the tree, gasping for breath.  
  
"You don't seem so cocky now," she snarled.  
  
"I wasn't cocky before," he choked.  
  
"Why don't you leave me alone. I deal with my problems my way. If you don't like it, don't follow me around," she growled, glaring at him. She turned and stalked back into the school, leaving Bakura on the ground.  
  
He watched her leave, still trying to catch his breath. He leaned his head against the tree trunk and closed his eyes. The cruel way she had called him by his last name echoed in his mind. She had never called him Ryou before, even when she had first met him. Of course, she had never nearly strangled him either. He touched his throat, remembering how easily she had cornered him.  
  
But she had had every opportunity to hurt him further, and she hadn't taken any of them. She could have punched him... kneed him... yet she hadn't. He knew she would have done far worse to the preps.  
  
He got up off the ground, suddenly feeling energetic again. She couldn't hurt him because even though on the outside she was furious, on the inside they were friends. He entered the school again as the bell rang. He'd make sure to talk to Alex after school.  
  
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
a/n: Okay, I don't suppose there are too many more chapters here, but there are a few. So, review and I'll post the end, kay? Thanks. 


	20. Once Again Friends

a/n: Here's the second chapter. Er... I can't think of anything to say except thanks to all my reviewers! And hey to all those of those who have become my friends! ^_^  
  
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Still fuming, Alex slammed her locker shut before Bakura even showed up. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed out the front doors to the school. She hadn't gotten very far when she heard someone call her name.  
  
"Leave me alone," she snarled as Bakura ran up next to her. "Haven't you had enough yet?"  
  
"I have to talk to you," he said, but she wouldn't stop. "Please! Let me talk to you!" Out of desperation, he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him.  
  
Alex grabbed his shirt collar and in one swift move had her fist up to hit him in the face. But this time Bakura wasn't nervous.  
  
"Go ahead," he said, staring her in the eye.  
  
Her teeth clenched and her fist hovering in the air ready to strike, she couldn't make herself move. She seemed to be frozen in that position. Unwilling to let him go, but unable to hurt him. After a few more seconds, she gave a frustrated yell and shoved him backwards. "Get away from me!" she screamed, spinning on her heel.  
  
Bakura grabbed her arm and turned her back around to face him. He grabbed her shoulders and held her in place as she glared at him. "Why can't you hit me?" he challenged.  
  
Furious, Alex grabbed his shirt. She tried to lift her knee, but couldn't get it to move. - What's going /on/? - she screamed at herself. She yelled as she swung Bakura around, throwing him to the ground. She dropped down over him, grabbing his throat. Her knee hovered over him, but she was unable to lower it.  
  
"Would you mind letting go?" Bakura choked, grabbing at her hand. "I... can't breathe..."  
  
"Shut up!" she snarled, jerking her hand. "Do you realize how easy it would be for me to seriously injure you?"  
  
"Yes, but I also know you won't do it... please, let go..." he said, grabbing her wrist.  
  
"How do you know I won't? What in all the time you've spent with me, makes you think I won't do it?" she yelled.  
  
Using all his strength, he managed to rip her hand from his throat and roll over on top of her, pinning her down by her shoulders. Panting for breath, he looked her in the eye. "Because you like me," he said.  
  
"I /what/?" she screeched, her eyes blazing with fury. "You freak...!"  
  
"As a friend!" he interrupted, feeling his face grow warm. "You have no problem pinning me down or throwing me around, but you can't seriously hurt me! You won't let yourself do it! Because we're /friends/."  
  
"What is /wrong/ with you?" she asked incredulously. "What makes you think I want to be your friend after you like a /prep/?"  
  
"All right! So I had bad taste in girls... I'm over her now! And my taste has gotten better," he said indignantly.  
  
"How would you know? Who do you like now?" she snapped.  
  
"Erm... no one," he said, letting her go and standing up quickly. He didn't look at her as she jumped to her feet, knowing he had gone red in the face.  
  
"Just leave me alone," she snarled, straightening her shirt. She turned on her heel, but Bakura grabbed her arm again. "Get off of me!" she screamed, throwing him off her.  
  
He stumbled backwards a few steps, but recovered quickly. "Stop yelling at me!" he cried desperately.  
  
"Why?" she screeched back, her fists clenched.  
  
He grabbed her shoulders and shook her slightly. "Because no one likes being yelled at!" he exclaimed. "Especially when it's a friend who's mad at you."  
  
Alex's expression softened slightly. She pushed him away, though less sharply than before. "Leave me alone," she said, turning and starting down the sidewalk.  
  
"Come on, stop," Bakura pleaded, walking beside her.  
  
"I never stop," she replied, staring ahead.  
  
"I hate when people are mad at me," he said.  
  
"Then maybe you should quit following people around annoying them," Alex snapped, looking at him briefly.  
  
"You're the only one I follow around!" he said. She stopped and turned to him, a confused and disgusted look on her face. "You're the only one who I /have/ to follow around."  
  
"You don't /have/ to do anything," she said.  
  
"But I want to! I... I mean... you're my friend, but I've never had anyone who's so... anti-social is an understatement," he said.  
  
"So?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him. "Why are you following me around and bugging me?"  
  
"Because I see the good in you," he said.  
  
Alex snorted. "You're obviously blind," she snapped, turning and continuing down the sidewalk.  
  
"Alex, all anyone has to do is see how you act towards your brother! I've seen it! You'd never say it, but you care about him! And you'd be devastated if anything happened to him or he suddenly stopped looking up to you," he said.  
  
Alex stopped, but continued to stare straight ahead, her face looking torn. "You're assuming..." she said quietly.  
  
He stepped in front of her and looked her in the eye. "I'm not. I don't understand you most of the time, but I know that I want to. There's obviously a lot more to you than meets the eye and I want you to trust me with it. You can you know," he said.  
  
Alex stared at him a moment and he couldn't identify what it was exactly that was in her eyes. She pushed by him and started down the sidewalk again. "How do I trust someone I've known for all of about a month?" she asked softly.  
  
"Alex, have I told anyone about Jade being your sister? If I had, don't you think you'd have found out about it by now?" he asked, walking beside her.  
  
"Do you think I'm a mental case or something?" she asked.  
  
"What? No..." he said, confused.  
  
"Because I am," she said. Without looking at him, she jerked her left sleeve up to reveal the cut on her arm.  
  
Bakura stared at her, unsure of what to say. "Um... what are you saying?" he asked.  
  
"I did that you moron!" she cried, turning to him. "Jade's constantly afraid of me because I'm always threatening suicide! When she tries to call me on a bluff, I prove I'm not afraid of it by doing something like this! And if she were to push me too far, I'd probably do it!" she cried.  
  
Bakura stared at her. "Alex... why...?" he asked.  
  
"Because I'm screwed up! Do you realize what you're getting yourself into by hanging around me?" she exclaimed.  
  
"I don't care! But don't commit suicide, I don't feel like going to your funeral," he said, trying to lighten the mood a little. He breathed in relief when she grinned slightly.  
  
"I'm not planning on it, no. Are you on valium or something? Because no normal person would put up with me," she said, staring at him.  
  
He laughed. "No, I don't put up with you. I enjoy being with you, so I can overlook your flaws."  
  
"You're overlooking half my personality then," she said, folding her arms.  
  
- Well, she's smirking again at least, - he thought, very much relieved. "No, I don't think you're that messed up," he said.  
  
"What do you think of me then? If you say I'm nice I swear I'll shoot you," she said.  
  
Bakura laughed. "Erm... I don't think you're /nice/ exactly. I guess... I find you interesting. I've never met anyone like you before."  
  
"Of course you didn't," she said. Despite her harsh tone, her face was lightening up, making her look stunning once again.  
  
They stared at each other for a minute, Bakura's heart starting to race. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her and didn't want to. She didn't notice the way he was gazing at her and once again started down the sidewalk.  
  
"Jade isn't gonna' be home yet. She usually picks David up, so you want to come over? I need help with my math homework," she said, making Bakura smile.  
  
"Yeah," he said eagerly, unable to keep the grin or the blush off his face. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Bakura found his voice again. "Um... I like your shirt," he said, trying to make conversation.  
  
Alex raised an eyebrow at him and he blushed. "Flattery doesn't work on me," she said.  
  
"Uh, no... I was just saying..." he stammered, feeling his face flush.  
  
- Does he have a stuttering problem or something? He can't ever finish a friggin' sentence, - she thought to herself.  
  
- And I told Dad I wasn't obvious when I was around her. Has she really not figured it out yet? That's... surprising! Not that I'm complaining... Oh no, I'm arguing with myself. -  
  
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!  
  
"Alex, you're doing that wrong," Bakura said, looking at her paper.  
  
"Oh, shut up. I know what I'm doing," she snapped, erasing the problem. She redid it to come up with the same answer.  
  
"You're doing the problem wrong. See, look," he said, taking the pencil from her.  
  
"Gimme' that," she said, snatching it away. "You have your own pencil."  
  
Bakura laughed as she glared at him. He was about to show her how to do it when she flopped back on the bed and sighed. He grinned, though he wasn't sure why.  
  
"Eh, I'll figure it out. I'm failing math anyway so it doesn't matter," she said, staring at the ceiling, finding shapes in the ripples. She sighed as she spotted the dagger. Suddenly a sharp pain seared below her shoulder and she sat bolt upright, wincing.  
  
"Are you all right?" Bakura asked, concern spreading across his face. He got up and went to her side as she grabbed a small bottle of pills from her end table.  
  
With shaking hands, she poured two pills from the bottle into her hand and popped them in her mouth, swallowing them. Bakura watched her nervously as she sat there, her hand pressed against the front of her shoulder.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
Alex's face started to ease from being screwed up in pain and she stood. She rubbed her shoulder and took a deep breath. "The pain isn't really there. It's a memory," she said, turning around to face him.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, confused.  
  
Alex sighed. She pulled the collar of her shirt down below her shoulder to reveal a scar.  
  
Bakura stood up at looked at it more carefully. "What happened?" he asked.  
  
She released her shirt and folded her arms.  
  
FLASHBACK...  
  
"You're an awful father! All you ever do is get drunk and fight with mom!" Alex screamed. She stood in the kitchen with her father at the age of thirteen.  
  
"Don't talk to me that way!" her father yelled, his eyes blazing.  
  
"Or you'll do what? Do you realize that you haven't taught me anything? Except not to follow in your footsteps that is! The only thing you care about is your alcohol! You not only have me to take care of, you have a seven year old son! You're his role model! He looks up to you!" Alex screeched.  
  
"Shut up!" Her father cried, clenching his fists. "Watch how you speak to me! I'm your father!"  
  
"And I wish you weren't! I hate you! You chased Jade out of the house at eighteen! I'm not stupid, I know..." Alex was cut off by a searing pain just below her right shoulder. Her eyes wide, she slowly looked down to find the knife that had been on the counter shoved into her up to the handle. Terrified, she grabbed hold of it and slowly pulled it out, blood staining the blade. She looked back up at her father, who's own eyes were filled with fear.  
  
"Oh my God, what have I done?" he whispered.  
  
The knife fell from Alex's hand as she collapsed to the floor.  
  
END FLASHBACK...  
  
"It turned out I had only been petrified and I passed out. The blade only tore my muscle, it didn't hit any bones or anything. But dad really freaked out about it. It scared the living crap out of him that he had done that. He thought he had killed me," she said with a slight laugh.  
  
Bakura stared at her, his eyes wide with horror. His voice seemed to have left and he couldn't speak.  
  
"So, now it just hurts sometimes. But if you tell anyone, I swear you die," she threatened, her eyes growing cold.  
  
"N-no! I won't say anything! I thought you said he didn't hurt you or your mother," he said as she sat back down on the bed.  
  
"I said he /almost/ never hurt us. He really did suck as a parent though. I don't remember what got me started, but every word I said had been true," she said.  
  
Bakura sat down beside her, stunned. "That's..." he started, but couldn't find the words to describe it.  
  
"Shut up, I know what it is," she said softly, rubbing her shoulder. "I never really spoke to him or hung around him after that. Maybe I drove him to suicide," she said, thinking about it.  
  
"No!" Bakura cried. "Don't start thinking you did it! He would have killed himself anyway, even if you hadn't acted coldly to him."  
  
She stared at him. "Bakura, get a grip. I'm not blaming myself. That's just stupid."  
  
He blushed as she fell back on the bed. "Um... right, well, good," he said, feeling incredibly stupid.  
  
She sat back up and looked at him. "I told you I'm messed up."  
  
He turned towards her. "And I believed you," he said truthfully. "But it didn't matter to me. You've been through a lot, but you're not a freak, no matter what anyone says."  
  
Alex stared at him. "Where do you get the idea I'm not a freak?" she asked.  
  
"Because it's like you said. There's really no normal, so there's no freak. You're most definitely not normal, but there is no normal, so," he said, his eyes meeting hers. His heart skipped a beat as she gave a small smile. He felt that this would be a good time to kiss her, but had a sinking feeling she'd knock him out if he did.  
  
"No one's ever reacted quite like that to it before. They all freaked out and stuff," she said without looking at him.  
  
"Well, you obviously never met anyone who understood what it's like to lose family members," he said.  
  
"No, come to think of it. I haven't," she said, looking at him. His heart melted as his eyes met hers. They were no longer cold, but slightly sad. They made him want to hold her tightly in his arms and make her pain disappear. But he didn't make a move towards her. Instead he just gazed at her with longing eyes, trying not to look too obvious.  
  
He didn't really know what to say, so he just put his hand on her shoulder lightly and smiled at her. She lowered her gaze to his hand and he removed it, blushing.  
  
"Well, I don't think there's any more you don't know about my family. Except that I've been in therapy loads of times and it hasn't helped," she said.  
  
"You don't need therapy. You need a friend," he said softly.  
  
"Well, I suppose I have one now," she said, looking at him.  
  
He couldn't help beaming. She gave a small laugh at his smile and gathered her books together. Bakura watched as she shoved them in her backpack haphazardly. He was about to say something when Jade opened the door. Immediately Alex's smile evaporated.  
  
"What do /you/ want?" she snarled.  
  
"Just to say hi," Jade said.  
  
"Well, you've said it. Good bye," Alex said.  
  
Bakura turned around and smiled at Jade, who felt rather reassured by him. "Alex, Rick is coming over tonight for dinner. Why doesn't Bakura stay too?" Jade looked directly into her sister's eyes and gave a small smirk.  
  
Alex blazed in fury at her sister's inside joke. She didn't respond and didn't notice that Bakura had taken to watching her.  
  
Seeing the look in Alex's eyes, he thought maybe it would be best if he stayed out of this. "Um, no, but thanks anyway. I have to get home," he said quickly.  
  
"Oh, all right then. Maybe some other time," Jade said, watching him quickly gather his things.  
  
He slung his backpack over his shoulders and he and Alex got up from the bed. "Well, I'll see you later then," he said to Alex, smiling.  
  
"Yeah," she replied, following him out of the room.  
  
Before she was able to push completely past Jade, however, her sister grabbed her arm. "Maybe some other time we'll double date," she hissed.  
  
Alex's eyes blazed and she slid her sleeve up to remind Jade of her threat the night before. Her sister stiffened slightly and released her arm. Alex turned away and slid down the banister, her foot stopping her from hitting the knob at the end. Jade smirked as she watched Bakura smile at her sister.  
  
- Show off, - Jade thought with a smirk. Alex showed Bakura out as Rick showed up.  
  
"Oh! Hi Bakura," he said and Alex scowled.  
  
"Um, hi," Bakura replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable.  
  
"Hope you two aren't doing anything stupid," Rick said, entering the house. Bakura blushed a vibrant shade of red while Alex clenched her fists.  
  
"Jade!" she screamed, making Bakura jump. She slammed the door shut without a word to him and he figured maybe he should leave.  
  
He turned around and headed down the driveway, trying desperately to make the color drain from his face.  
  
##################################################################################  
  
a/n: Okay, it's nearing the end of this fic, but there is a sequel. Although, that's gonna' be really depressing. heh heh... 


	21. Disaster Strikes

"Hey, Bakura!" Joey called.  
  
Bakura looked across the cafeteria the next day and waved. He headed over to the table where his friends sat. "Hi," he said.  
  
"Is everything okay with Alex? She looked kind of mad at you yesterday," Tea said.  
  
"Well, she was sort of. But everything's okay now," he said, looking over his shoulder briefly at Alex. She sat at her usual table alone. He felt sort of guilty for not being there with her, but turned back around to his friends.  
  
"What happened?" Yugi asked.  
  
"I wouldn't let her beat up the preps," Bakura replied with a chuckle.  
  
Joey gawked at him. "Why not? They could use a good beating!" he said.  
  
The gang laughed. "If Alex got to them, she'd probably kill them," Bakura said.  
  
"So, let her go!" Tristan said, earning laughs.  
  
"She'd get expelled if she killed them and then I wouldn't get to see her anymore," Bakura said. He realized exactly what he had said when Joey snickered. He went a violent shade of red and stared at the table.  
  
"Yeah, we wouldn't want that to happen," Tristan teased. Tea elbowed him as they saw Bakura shrink down in his seat.  
  
"Sorry," she said. "But it's really funny."  
  
"Well, not to me!" Bakura said. "I'm perfectly happy if she's clueless. Even if everyone else /does/ know. What?" he asked as the gang started snickering.  
  
"Who's clueless?"  
  
Bakura's heart stopped as he spun around so fast he was in danger of falling off the seat. Alex stood behind him with her arms folded and an eyebrow raised. "Um..." he stammered as his friends snickered.  
  
"You wouldn't happen to be talking about me, would you?" she asked, sitting down next to him.  
  
"No," he said quickly, blushing.  
  
She gave him a skeptical look. "I was kidding," she said dryly. "But maybe I hit it on the nose?"  
  
"No, we were talking... um..." Yugi tried.  
  
"About a girl who likes /him/. But he doesn't like her back and he doesn't want to hurt her feelings," Tea finished.  
  
Alex gave them weird looks and kept her eyebrow up. "Ah," she said. "Anyway, I'm going to the arcade later. Are you coming?" she asked, directing her attention to Bakura, who was bright red.  
  
"Uh... yeah. Okay," he said, his heart racing at the close call.  
  
"Good. I'll see you at four. Don't be late, all right?" Alex said, getting up from the table. Bakura watched as she walked across the cafeteria and left.  
  
"Thank you," he said, turning to Tea.  
  
"It's what friends are for," she said with a smile.  
  
"I hate to burst your bubble, but I'm not sure she completely fell for it though," Tristan said, making Bakura blush.  
  
"What do you mean? Why?" Bakura asked.  
  
"Well, she seemed kind of skeptical about it," Tristan replied.  
  
"But I don't think she knows. If she did, I don't think she'd continue hanging out with you," Yugi said.  
  
"Oh, great!" Bakura said, putting his face in his hand.  
  
"What he /means/ is..." Tea said, elbowing Yugi. "That if she found out, she'd either go out with you, or..."  
  
"Or?" Bakura asked, looking at her.  
  
"Or... well, she'd probably stop hanging out with you like Yugi said. But if she doesn't recognize it, she probably likes you back, but doesn't realize it on either end," Tea finished.  
  
"Oh..." Bakura said, unsure of whether he was relieved or not. "How do I get her to recognize it on her end without her knocking me out?"  
  
"Um, well you could always kiss her," Tristan said.  
  
"I've thought of that, but somehow I don't think I'd come out of it alive," he said, blushing as the gang laughed.  
  
"You could actually ask her out," Tea suggested.  
  
"I can't see her reacting well to that either," Bakura said.  
  
"How do you think she'd take it?" Yugi asked.  
  
"Um..." Bakura said, thinking about it. "She'd probably stare at me like I'm an alien or laugh or something. Any which way it'd be embarrassing," he said.  
  
"Well, you have to do something," Tea said.  
  
"Yeah, if you don't, you'll be the laughing stock of the entire school," Joey said.  
  
Bakura blushed. "What do I say?" he muttered.  
  
"I don't know, from what you've said, you have to do it carefully around Alex or she'll knock you out. But I suggest something casual like 'Do you want to see a movie with me' or something," Tristan said.  
  
"And try not to stutter," Joey added, making Bakura go a bright shade of red.  
  
"R-right," he said.  
  
"No, /don't/ stutter," Joey said.  
  
"Well, it's easy for you to say!" Bakura said.  
  
"Why don't you give it a shot when you're walking her home? That way it doesn't mess up your day at the arcade," Tea suggested.  
  
Bakura nodded, nervous at the idea. "If I don't come to school tomorrow, you'll remember to visit me in the hospital, right?" he asked and the gang laughed.  
  
"I don't think she'll beat you up for liking her. She may be... socially challenged... but I don't think she's quite /that/ messed up," Tristan said.  
  
"Right. Um... well, I suppose I'll give it a shot," Bakura said. "After the arcade. I can't believe I'm going to do this."  
  
"Good luck, Bakura," Yugi said.  
  
"Thanks. I think I'm going to need it," Bakura replied, blushing a vivid shade of red.  
  
"Nah, you'll be fine," Tristan said.  
  
Bakura took a deep breath and stood up. "Well, I suppose I'd better get to class."  
  
"Say hello to Alex for us," Joey teased, making Bakura turn away in embarrassment. He heard Joey mutter "Ow," as Tea elbowed him in the ribs.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~ I'm tuggin' at my hair.  
  
~ I'm pullin' at my clothes.  
  
~ I'm tryin' to keep my cool,  
  
~ I know it shows.  
  
"So, Alex... no, that's awful." Bakura walked slowly down the sidewalk, kicking the pebbles as he went. Half of him couldn't wait to see Alex, the other half wanted to delay it as long as possible.  
  
~ I'm starin' at my feet.  
  
~ My cheeks are turnin' red.  
  
~ I'm searchin' for the words inside my head.  
  
"What are you doing tomorrow? Besides school... oh, what am I going to do? She'll laugh for certain if I keep this up!" he moaned, pressing a hand to his face. "Um... no, I can't start like that..."  
  
~ If I could say what I wanna' say,  
  
~ I'd say I wanna' blow you -- away.  
  
~ Be with you every night.  
  
~ Am I squeezing you too tight?  
  
Bakura took a deep breath and tried again. "Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" He imagined Alex's answer... -"No, why?" - "Do you want to see a movie with me then? No... do you want to have dinner with me then? Yeah... okay, that sounds pretty good," he muttered, feeling his face flush at the image of asking her out.  
  
~ If I could say what I wanna' see,  
  
~ I wanna' see you go down -- on one knee.  
  
~ Marry me today.  
  
~ Guess I'm wishin' my life away,  
  
~ with these things I'll never say.  
  
As he walked, he muttered his lines over and over to himself, trying to keep words like 'um' and 'uh' out of his sentences. He reached the traffic light where the arcade was and he saw Alex leaning against the wall across the street, waiting for him. His heart leapt at the sight of her and all thoughts of asking her out were temporarily driven from his mind.  
  
"Alex!" he called excitedly, waving at her.  
  
Alex looked up across the street to see him waving energetically at her. "Well it's about time," she muttered, looking up at the traffic light.  
  
She watched as it turned yellow, then looked back at Bakura. Her heart stopped as she saw him start across the street. The car was just slowing down as Bakura stepped in front of it.  
  
"Bakura!" she screamed, pushing off the wall, her eyes wide in fear. "No!"  
  
The sound of her voice startled him and he stopped. He realized what was happening as he turned and saw the truck. He cried out, but was unable to move in time.  
  
"Bakura!" Alex screamed. As cars stopped for the red light, she weaved between them until she reached her friend. "Oh my God," she whispered fearfully as she knelt over him. She heard the car door open but she didn't look up.  
  
"Oh my God, I didn't see him I swear! Oh God, oh my God..." the woman moaned, putting a hand to her mouth.  
  
"Call an ambulance you moron!" Alex cried and the woman obediently whipped out her cell phone. Alex redirected her attention to Bakura, who wasn't moving. "Bakura..." she choked, shaking his shoulder. When he didn't move, her heart started to race in panic. "No... wake up. Look at me! Come on, open your eyes!" she cried, feeling her breath start to catch in her throat.  
  
She heard the woman giving a panicked review of what had happened over the phone, but what she was saying wasn't registering in Alex's mind.  
  
"Bakura... come on! You idiot, open your eyes! Come on! Don't do this to me!" she exclaimed, shaking him. His head merely rolled to the side, his eyes remaining closed. "Please... wake up..." she choked, her vision starting to blur.  
  
Breathing heavily, she rested her forehead on his chest. She lifted her head a few seconds later, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. "Bakura wake up! Come on! Don't you dare die!" she cried, shaking his shoulders. "If you die I swear to God I'll never forgive you! Wake /up/! Please..." She choked out the last word as tears suddenly started to fall from her eyes.  
  
She tried to sniff them back and wipe them away, but she couldn't keep them from falling. "Please..." she whispered, terrified. "Don't leave me alone here... I... I need you, Bakura... I need you..." She rested her head back down on his chest, letting tears fall.  
  
Suddenly, she was ripped from him and pushed away. She stumbled backwards as men lifted Bakura onto a stretcher. She watched them push the stretcher into the back of the ambulance. As it pulled out, Alex took off to her house, tears still streaming down her face in panic. She didn't stop running until she reached her front door.  
  
Alex ripped it open and burst inside. She groped for the car keys on the wall, but they weren't there. She leaned out of the doorway to see the car sitting in the driveway. She wiped her face dry and spun around to see Jade.  
  
"Give me the keys," Alex said, holding out a shaking hand.  
  
Jade stared at her. "Alex, I need the car. I'm meeting Rick at..."  
  
"Give me the keys now!" her sister interrupted.  
  
"Alex, what's wrong with you?" Jade asked, noting her sister's bloodshot eyes. "Are you okay?"  
"Jade!" Alex cried, panic flooding through her again.  
  
"No, I need the car sometimes too," Jade said, pushing her red hair over her ear.  
  
"Jade! Bakura's in the hospital! Give me the keys!" Alex screamed, her breathing becoming rapid again.  
  
Her sister stared at her with wide eyes. "Oh my God... all... all right..." Jade stammered, handing Alex the keys. As her sister dashed out of the house, Jade put a hand over her mouth in shock. - Oh my God, what happened? - She had never Alex move so fast in her life. The teen had already backed out of the driveway and was headed down the road. - Oh... I hope she doesn't put /herself/ in the hospital... -  
  
Jade ran to the phone and dialed Rick's number. She crossed her fingers in hope that he hadn't left yet. She breathed in relief when he picked up.  
  
"Rick... Bakura's in the hospital..." she said, feeling her own heart start to pound.  
  
"What? Why?" Rick asked, concern in his voice.  
  
"I don't know, but Alex just took off with the car. She's so upset... Rick, you have to pick me up... I have to go to the hospital," Jade said.  
  
"Yeah, okay. I'll be there in a minute, all right?" Rick said.  
  
"Yeah, bye." They hung up, but Jade picked up the phone again. She dialed Bakura's number and hoped someone answered. She breathed in relief when a man picked up.  
  
"Hello?" he asked.  
  
"Is this Mr. Ryou?" she asked, panicky.  
  
"Yes, who's this?" he asked quizzically.  
  
"Jade Moore... you met me at Victoria's," she replied.  
  
"That's right! How are you?" Mr. Ryou asked cheerfully.  
  
"Not so good... Alex just came in here demanding the car keys because Bakura's in the hospital," Jade said, running her hand nervously through her hair.  
  
"What?" Mr. Ryou asked, his tone changing dramatically. "What happened? Do you mean my son?"  
  
"Yes... I don't think Alex would give a crap if it happened to anyone else. I don't know what happened, she didn't tell me. But I don't think it's good... she looked like she had been crying and Alex doesn't cry," Jade said, fear flooding through her.  
  
"Oh my God," Mr. Ryou said. Jade heard him hang up without another word and she did the same. At that moment, she heard a car horn blare from outside.  
  
Jade dashed outside, grabbing her purse on her way. She quickly got into the passenger side of Rick's car and he pulled out.  
  
"I'm sure everything's okay," he said, trying to calm her down.  
  
"You don't get it! Alex was /crying/! Oh my God... if something happens to him Alex will never be the same..." Jade said, tears forming in her eyes.  
  
"Jade... calm down. Alex will be fine as will Bakura I'm sure. I don't need you panicking here; I'm sure Alex will do that enough for the both of us," Rick said.  
  
"Yeah..." Jade said, drying her eyes quickly. "God, I hope he's all right..."  
  
#########################################################################################  
  
a/n: What? You actually thought I'd tell you in /this/ chapter? ROTFL Review and I'll tell you in the /next/ one. XD 


	22. Hospital

Alex burst into the hospital and ran to the front desk. "Where's Bakura Ryou? Is he okay?" she demanded.  
  
"Wait a minute..." the woman behind the desk said, holding up a hand. "Who are you looking for?"  
  
"Bakura Ryou!" Alex repeated, growing annoyed quickly.  
  
"Are you a relative?" The woman asked calmly.  
  
"I'm his best friend!" Alex replied.  
  
"There hasn't been any information on his condition yet. He was just brought in by the ambulance..." she started, but Alex slammed her fist on the counter before turning away.  
  
She walked over to a bench and sat down, putting her face in her hands. A few minutes later, she heard the hospital doors open. Alex lifted her head to see her sister and Rick come in. "No!" Alex exclaimed, standing and facing Jade. "Get out!"  
  
"Alex...!" Jade started, but her sister grabbed her shirt.  
  
"Hey!" Rick said, grabbing Alex's arm. The woman from behind the counter ran over and helped pull Alex away as well. She spun the teen around to face her and looked her dead in the eye.  
  
"I understand you're upset about your friend, but we'll have no fighting here. If you don't calm down I'll have to ask you to leave," she said and Alex glared at her.  
  
Alex ripped away from the woman and dropped down onto the bench with her arms folded. Alex read the woman's name tag to find her name to be Riayla. The two glared at each other for a few seconds before Riayla moved back behind the counter.  
  
Before Alex could say anything to Jade, the doors once again burst open. Alex didn't recognize the man that entered. He was tall with brown hair and glasses * and looked slightly panicked. He ran to the counter and addressed Riayla.  
  
"Is Bakura Ryou all right? I'm his father," he said and Alex stared at him.  
  
- They look nothing alike, - Alex thought. - Maybe he looks like his mother instead. - She tuned back into the conversation to see Mr. Ryou take the insurance papers. He came over to the bench and sat beside Alex. He adjusted his glasses on his nose, then noticed Alex looking at him.  
  
"Hello," he said, eyeing her.  
  
"You're his father then?" Alex asked.  
  
Mr. Ryou looked surprised at this. "Ah... yes, I am. I take it you're Alex?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Bakura speaks highly of you. For the past few weeks yours has been the only name on his lips," Mr. Ryou said, scratching answers on the insurance papers with his pen.  
  
Alex stared at him, trying to decipher what that meant exactly. She was about to ask what it was that Bakura said about her when his father stood to hand the papers back to Riayla. He sat back down as a doctor came down the hall. Alex, Jade, Rick and Mr. Ryou watched as the doctor handed a clipboard to Riayla, then headed their way.  
  
Both Mr. Ryou and Alex stood in anticipation for what the doctor would have to say. Once again Alex's heart began to pound in nervousness, but she tried to ignore it. Her eyes scanned the name tag pinned to the man's white coat. - Chris, - she read to herself.  
  
"Are you here because of Bakura Ryou?" Chris asked and Mr. Ryou nodded.  
  
"Yes," he said.  
  
"Is he all right or isn't he?" Alex demanded.  
  
Chris chuckled. "Yes, he's fine. The car wasn't going at a high enough speed to seriously injure him, though he does have a broken leg."  
  
Alex sighed in relief and sank back down onto the bench. Jade hugged Rick and Mr. Ryou closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  
  
- Bakura, I swear to God you scared the crap out of me, - Alex thought, closing her eyes and leaning her head against the wall.  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
"I've got to go to the hospital," Alex announced when she arrived home from school the next day.  
  
"All right, but we have to leave at five because..." Jade said, taking the keys off the wall.  
  
"Who's we? Give /me/ the keys. You're not coming," Alex said, trying to grab the keys out of her sister's hand.  
  
"Yes I am. I'm driving you over, you can spend some time with Bakura, then I'm driving you back and I'm going out with Rick," Jade said, holding her hand above her head, making Alex unable to get the keys.  
  
Alex fumed, but simply pointed to the car. "Go. Drive."  
  
"All right, Tarzan," Jade said, dodging her sister's punch on her way to the car.  
  
Alex got in the passenger side and slammed the door shut.  
  
"The window didn't shatter, care to try again?" Jade asked dryly as she started the engine. She didn't notice the death glare her sister gave her.  
  
The sisters rode in silence to the hospital. Alex couldn't wait to see Bakura. The doctor had said yesterday that it would be best if she waited a day before visiting him.  
  
Jade pulled up at the hospital a few minutes later and Alex got out of the car almost before her sister shut it off. "Alex! Wait a minute!" Jade called, but Alex was already inside the hospital.  
  
"Where's Bakura Ryou's room?" Alex asked breathlessly when she ran up the counter.  
  
"You are?" When the woman lifted her head, Alex recognized her as Riayla from the day before.  
  
"I've already told you, I'm his best friend," Alex said, annoyed.  
  
"Your name please?" Riayla asked, looking the teen in the eye as Jade entered.  
  
"Alex, happy?" she snapped.  
  
"Miss., your full name," Riayla said, looking rather annoyed now herself.  
  
"Alexandra Moore," Jade said, coming to the counter. "And I'm her sister and legal guardian, Jade."  
  
"All right, thank you. Third floor, room 113," Riayla said, pointing down the hall.  
  
"Thank you," Jade said as Alex took off down the hall.  
  
Riayla stood and called after her, "Please! No running!" Turning her attention to Jade, she said, "Would you mind keeping your sister in check? If you can't I'll have to ask her to leave."  
  
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry," Jade said, heading down the hall after Alex.  
  
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~  
  
Alex skidded to a stop in front of the nearest elevator. She punched the 'up' button numerous times as she saw her sister coming down the hall.  
  
"Come on... come on..." Alex muttered, not wanting Jade to be with her when she saw Bakura. "Yes..."  
  
The elevator doors opened and Alex spun inside, shutting the doors before Jade even got close. She punched the button for level three and leaned back in the empty elevator, breathing in relief as it started to move.  
  
Her heart pounded in anticipation as the elevator dinged for level two. She wanted to see Bakura with her own eyes to be sure he was all right. When the doors opened on level three, she made a hasty exit, heading down the hall. She looked on every door for 113 and when she found it, she quickly entered, shutting the door behind her.  
  
"Bakura?" she asked, going around the curtain.  
  
"Alex!" he exclaimed, his face lighting up. His leg was in a pulley being held up, so when he tried to sit up, it was difficult.  
  
Instead of returning his smile, she ran over and grabbed his shoulders, shocking the grin off his face. "What's wrong with you?" she shrieked, shaking him slightly. "You nearly committed suicide you /moron/!"  
  
"I... well..." he started, feeling his face start to flush with her being so close.  
  
"You scared the /crap/ out of me!" Alex said, releasing him and turning away, folding her arms.  
  
Bakura blushed a deeper red, but couldn't keep a grin off his face. "I... I did?" he asked.  
  
"Yes you idiot!" Alex exclaimed, turning back to him. "You're the only friend I've got! And I kind of need someone to keep me in check."  
  
Bakura beamed. "Ah, yes, well... you do have Jade for that," he said. He laughed when Alex's eyes grew wide.  
  
"Are you kidding me? Anything she tells me not to do I do ten times over!" she said, making Bakura crack up. Alex couldn't help but grin as her friend laughed. She sat down on the bed next to him and Bakura's laughter melted into a scarlet blush.  
  
"Um..." he said, avoiding her eyes. "Dad said you've met."  
  
"Yeah, you look nothing like him," she said, making him laugh again.  
  
"No, I suppose I don't. Everyone always said I looked like mom," he replied.  
  
"Yeah, well maybe if you got a haircut that'd change," Alex said, tugging on his bangs.  
  
Bakura blushed and brushed her hand away.  
  
"Your old man did say one thing though," Alex said, remembering.  
  
"Dad's not old," Bakura laughed.  
  
Alex only shrugged. "He said that you've been talking about me. Exactly what have you been saying?" she asked, eyeing him.  
  
Bakura felt color surge through his face. - Dad! - "Ah... I've mentioned you a few times I suppose."  
  
"And when you've mentioned me what have you said?" she asked.  
  
"I feel like I'm being interrogated by the police," he said, avoiding looking at her.  
  
"Good, maybe you'll answer truthfully then," Alex replied.  
  
"Um... I've told him about you... I told him your birthday was on Halloween... um..." he stammered, trying to make the color drain from his face but to no avail.  
  
Alex tilted her head to the side. "And what'd he say to that?"  
  
"Oh, uh... he thought it was cool," Bakura said, looking at her.  
  
"All right. What else?" Alex pressed.  
  
"Oh, um... I described you to him..." Bakura replied nervously.  
  
Alex's face got slightly more serious. "How? What did you say?"  
  
Feeling very uncomfortable, Bakura avoided looking at her. "Oh, well... you know, your hair and stuff," he said.  
  
Alex relaxed a bit at this. When she noticed the way Bakura was deliberately looking away from her, she raised an eyebrow. She reached over and put her fingers on his chin, turning his head towards her. "Why are you blushing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh... uh... I'm... I'm not... I'm just a little warm..." he stammered, growing more embarrassed by the minute.  
  
Alex felt the blanket that was over him and when she realized how thin it was, she pressed a hand to his forehead. Blushing furiously, he pushed her away.  
  
"No... I'm fine..." he said.  
  
"Maybe I should get a nurse," she said, turning to go, but Bakura grabbed her wrist.  
  
"No... really. I'm fine," he said, trying desperately to get his face to drain of color.  
  
"Are you sure?" she asked, looking at him skeptically.  
  
"Yeah," he said, releasing her wrist.  
  
She sighed and sat down in the chair by his bed. She studied him a moment before turning her gaze downwards to her hands. "You know you really did scare the crap out of me," she said. "You're the only one I can trust and stuff and I don't know what I'd do if I lost you..."  
  
Bakura's eyes widened in surprise and he felt his face start to flush again. Fighting against it, he reached over and took her hand. She looked up at him, slightly surprised. "You'll never loose me," he said, looking directly into her eyes. He soared as he felt her hand tighten around his. When she smiled at him, he felt as if it lit up the room and he returned the smile.  
  
He pulled his hand out of hers as the door burst open. Alex and Bakura snapped their heads up to see Yugi and the gang come in.  
  
"Bakura! What happened? The teacher said you were in the hospital! Are you okay?" Tea asked.  
  
"Y-yes, I'm fine," Bakura replied, noting the scowl on Alex's face.  
  
"Man, what happened? What did you do?" Tristan asked.  
  
"Um... I was just hit by a car..." he replied nervously.  
  
Alex stared in disgust as the gang swarmed around Bakura. - This is ridiculous. - She turned around and left through the open door.  
  
"Alex! Wait! Oh... now look... She was in a good enough mood where I could have asked her out too!" Bakura said, putting a hand over his face.  
  
"While you're in a hospital bed?" Joey asked incredulously.  
  
"Well, maybe she wouldn't have hit me!" Bakura said, looking at him.  
  
"Sorry Bakura, we didn't realize how well things were going. We were just worried about you," Tea said apologetically.  
  
"Could you go get her before she completely leaves?" Bakura asked hurriedly.  
  
"Oh! Yeah..." Tea said, running from the room. She passed a young woman with deep red hair on her way down the hall. - Oh, I hope no one catches me running through here, - Tea thought. She turned a corner and spotted Alex walking down the hallway slowly with her hands in her pockets. "Alex!" Tea called, running up to her.  
  
Alex turned around to see the brunette stop a few feet away, gasping for breath. She sighed in annoyance and folded her arms. "What do you want?" she snapped.  
  
"Bakura... needs to... talk to you..." Tea panted, trying to catch her breath.  
  
"He /was/ talking to me before you barged in," Alex said.  
  
"We're sorry, we didn't realize you were there," Tea said, but stopped quickly at a glare from Alex. "I mean, we were so worried about Bakura that we didn't realize that you, being his friend too, would be here. Actually, I think he wants to talk to you right now more than he wants to see us. He seemed... kind of upset that you left."  
  
Alex raised an eyebrow. "And what does he want to talk to me about?"  
  
"I don't know, I didn't ask him."  
  
"Fine, but only if you freaks aren't in the room," Alex said finally.  
  
"Okay, deal," Tea said, smiling. Alex glared back. "Um... right," Tea said, her smile fading in her nervousness. The two started back, though Alex walked a few paces behind the brunette.  
  
When they got back to the room, Tea nodded for the rest of the gang to leave, leaving Alex and Bakura alone once more.  
  
Alex glared at their backs, then turned her gaze to Bakura. "Why do you hang out with them?" she asked incredulously.  
  
"Because they're nice," he said. "I don't know, we just get along."  
  
Alex raised an eyebrow, but dropped it as she sat down. "You wanted to talk to me?"  
  
"Um... not about anything specific... but you kind of left rather quickly," he said.  
  
"I didn't want to hang around your friends as you probably could have figured out by now," she replied coldly.  
  
"Yeah," he said. There was an awkward silence and he felt his face start to burn again. - The situation was perfect before! I would have been able to ask her out! -  
  
"So?" Alex asked, looking at him.  
  
"You have to give me a minute to think of something to say," he replied. He grinned as she gave a small laugh. He studied her face and found himself longing to kiss her once more.  
  
She noticed the odd way he was watching her and furrowed her brow. "What?" she asked.  
  
"Have you considered not wearing so much make up?" he asked without completely thinking.  
  
Alex raised her eyebrow. "Why?"  
  
"It hides your face," he said.  
  
"No it doesn't. And why do you care anyway?" she asked.  
  
"It's like you're wearing a mask. When you don't wear any make up you look..." he faltered a moment, unable to say what he really thought. - Prettier. - "Um..." - More attractive. -  
  
"I look...?" she asked, waiting for him to continue.  
  
"Er... I can't place it. But you look better," he said, blushing.  
  
She raised her eyebrow and he had an urge to cover his face with his hand in embarrassment. "Better?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, um... better...." he said, trying desperately to keep his face a normal color.  
  
"You know if I continued this way you'd be talking yourself into a hole," she said with and evil grin.  
  
"Which is why I'm asking you to drop it," he said.  
  
She grinned at him and he crossed his fingers under the blanket. But before she could say anything, the door opened and Jade stepped in.  
  
"Alex, we have to go," she said, looking at her watch.  
  
"What? No way!" Alex protested, standing.  
  
"It's ten to five. I have a date with Rick at five. I'm going to be late as it is. You had your time with Bakura now let's go," Jade said impatiently.  
  
"You go! I'll walk home," Alex said, folding her arms.  
  
"No. Alex, go... now," Jade said, glaring at her sister.  
  
Alex sent a death glare back, then turned to Bakura. "God forbid she should be late for a date. I'll bring your homework by tomorrow, all right?"  
  
"Yeah, okay. Bye then," Bakura said, disappointed she was leaving. He wanted desperately to hold her in his arms before she left. He didn't think he had wanted anyone to hug him goodbye quite this much before and it figured he'd pick the least likely person to do it.  
  
"See ya'," Alex said, heading out of the room behind her sister.  
  
Bakura sighed and leaned back against the pillow, but he wasn't alone for too long. The gang came in as soon as they were sure Alex was gone. "Oh! I didn't know you were still here," Bakura said, looking at them.  
  
"We were talking to Jade. That's Alex's mom," Yugi said.  
  
"Yeah, I know. I've been over to her house a few times," Bakura replied.  
  
"She told us a whole bunch of stuff about Alex," Tristan said.  
  
"Yeah, like the fact that the only two people she's nice to is her brother and you," Joey said.  
  
"And that she cried when you were hit by the car," Tea added.  
  
Bakura looked at her, his eyes wide. "What?"  
  
"Yeah, Jade said she seemed really scared," Yugi said.  
  
Bakura couldn't keep a grin off his face. - I can't imagine Alex /crying/. Especially over me! Maybe I have a chance after all. -  
  
"What's goin' on in that head of yours?" Joey asked, tapping Bakura in the head.  
  
Bakura laughed and pushed Joey away. "Nothing," he said, though he was still grinning.  
  
"Don't you know already Joey?" Tristan asked, earning himself a look from Bakura. "Well, it's pretty obvious," Tristan said.  
  
"I can't believe /she/ still hasn't figured it out," Yugi said.  
  
Tea rolled her eyes and pulled Yugi over to her. She cupped her hand over his ear and whispered something to him. He nodded, a look of understanding on his face.  
  
"Hey!" Bakura said, laughing slightly. "That's rude! If you have to talk about me, at least don't do it while I'm in the /room/!"  
  
The gang laughed and Bakura thought that just maybe... his luck would change with Alex.  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Alex got into the car and slammed the door shut. "Alex..." Jade warned as she started the engine.  
  
Suddenly, an idea came to Alex. It was something that she wouldn't normally do at all and didn't necessarily want to do, however something was telling her she did. "Jade, drop me off at the mall," Alex stated.  
  
"What? No, you have to be home so David won't be alone when he gets back from his friend's," Jade said.  
  
"So, tell him he can stay longer! He won't care!" Alex said.  
  
Jade sighed, knowing her sister would probably walk to the mall even if she did drop her off at home. "How'll you get home?"  
  
"I have legs, Jade. I'll walk."  
  
"Fine. But be home by eight, got it?" Jade said and Alex internally grinned.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
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a/n: I believe the next chapter will be the last. But I won't update unless I get at least ten reviews! So tell your friends! XD 


	23. End

TWO DAYS LATER...  
  
"Thanks," Bakura said as Tea helped him off the bus. His leg was in a cast and he was still getting used to using the crutches. It was a cold day and the clouds in the sky suggested a good chance of snow.  
  
He walked with the gang to the front steps where students were filing into school. It felt good to be back, even though he couldn't stand his classes. He had been so bored when he couldn't see his friends for most of the day.  
  
"Can't wait to see..." Joey started, but was cut off when the gang heard a familiar voice from inside the crowd.  
  
"Move it! Out of my way... Would you people /move/?" Alex stumbled out of the crowd, glaring behind her at a few people. It was all Bakura could do to keep his jaw from dropping. She wore her hair back in an attempted ponytail and had gone much lighter on her make up. She only wore eyeliner on her eyelids and her lips were glossy and pink. Bakura recognized her outfit to be the one he chose for her at the mall.  
  
She came down the steps of the school and stopped in front of him. He felt rather stupid with the crutches, but was too busy staring at her to blush.   
  
"Man, she's got a figure!" Tristan hissed to Joey, surprised.  
  
"Cut it out! She's Bakura's, remember?" Joey hissed back, though he too was staring at her.  
  
"I like your outfit," Bakura managed to say, still looking her up and down. He noticed she was wearing the earrings he had given her and grinned.  
  
"Yeah, well, if I die of suffocation, you'll know why," Alex replied, making him laugh. "It's good to have you back. I can't tell you how many times I got into trouble for sleeping in class without you there to constantly wake me up."  
  
Bakura blushed a furious red when she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He hugged her back as best he could with the crutches, unable to keep a smile off his face. His heart started to race and he was disappointed when she let go of him.   
  
~ I'm starin' at my feet,  
  
~ my cheeks are turnin' red,  
  
~ I'm searchin' for the words inside my head.  
  
"Come on, we've got to get to class," Tea said.  
  
"Um... yeah..." Bakura said, still looking at Alex.  
  
"You can stop staring at me now," she said with a smirk.  
  
"Oh... yeah..." he said, looking at the ground, trying to hide his scarlet face.  
  
Alex walked with Bakura and the gang into the school, when they split up to go to their lockers.  
  
"I love being able to give these things a good kick," Alex said, grinning as she kicked Bakura's locker open for him. She looked extremely gleeful when she kicked hers.  
  
"Thanks," Bakura said, still amazed at how beautiful she looked.  
  
"Yeah," she replied, swinging her locker shut. She turned in time to see the preps walk by, Rita kicking one of Bakura's crutches out from under him. As he fell, Alex spun around, fire blazing in her eyes, and grabbed Rita's shirt. She pulled her fist back and hit the prep square in the face, sending her flying backwards into her friends.  
  
"Oh that felt good," Alex said, her eyes giving a dangerous gleam.  
  
"You hit me!" Rita screeched, her hand pressed against her cheek. She looked close to tears and her eyes were full of fear. "You'll so pay for that!" With that she turned and ran down the hall, her friends trailing behind her.  
  
Alex spun around and got down to help Bakura up. He put his arm around her shoulders and she helped him stand before picking up his crutches again.  
  
"Um... thanks..." he said, slightly surprised.  
  
"Hitting her made me feel so good," Alex said, staring down the hall where Rita had run. "So don't mention it."  
  
He followed her to class, thankful that Alex went a little slower so he could keep up. They had neared the classroom when a voice came over the loudspeakers.  
  
"Will Alexandra Moore please report to the principal's office?"  
  
Alex groaned and turned to Bakura. "It figures the wimp would run crying to the first authority she could find. I'm surprised they didn't call me sooner. Look, I got a date with the principal, so I'll see you later, all right?"  
  
"Okay. You know you didn't have to punch her. Just helping me up would have been fine," he said.  
  
"Oh, but it felt so good! It was completely worth it, believe me," Alex said, smirking. "See you later."  
  
"All right, bye then," Bakura said, watching her head down the hall.  
  
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$  
  
Bakura hobbled into the cafeteria with Alex and sat down across from her. She had gotten a week's worth of detention, but she continually said it was worth it to just see the look on Rita's face.  
  
Alex was about to say something when a shadow was cast over them. She looked up to see Rita and the girls. Rita had a huge bruise on her right cheekbone that she had tried to hide with concealer, but no amount would completely cover the it. Alex stood to face them, clenching her fists, ready to punch any one of them.  
  
"Alex..." Bakura warned.  
  
"You don't know how stupid that was, Moore. You are totally going to pay for that. Getting on our bad side was a bad idea," Rita threatened, her eyes cold.  
  
"So was getting on mine," Alex snarled.  
  
"I suggest you watch your back. You might just find something will go wrong when you least expect it," the prep shot back.  
  
Alex raised her fist to hit her but Bakura protested. "Alex! Come on!"  
  
She looked at him and lowered her arm. Alex turned her attention back to the preps and something caught her eye, making her snort with laughter. She dropped back down onto the bench, looking up at the five girls.  
  
"Whatever," Alex said, smirking. "Oh, but Rita, your boobs are uneven."  
  
Bakura couldn't help snorting in laughter himself, and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing outright. He folded his arms on the table and rested his head in them so the preps wouldn't see his pained look as he fought the urge to laugh hysterically.  
  
"What?" Rita shrieked, looking down. She folded her arms around her chest and ran towards the doors of the cafeteria, leaving Alex and Bakura practically falling out of their seats in laughter. Before she left, the prep turned around and yelled back, "You won't get away with this!"  
  
Bakura and Alex laughed for minutes afterwards and when they finally stopped, both of them were red from lack of oxygen.  
  
When Bakura was able to speak again, he asked, "Were they really uneven?"  
  
Alex stared at him. "Yeah! Didn't you see?"  
  
"No, I don't usually look there!" he replied, blushing slightly.  
  
"Well, I thought you would have looked when I announced it!" Alex laughed.  
  
"No, I was looking at the table, trying not to laugh!" he said, making them both crack up again.  
  
When they had finally calmed down, Alex stood. "Come on, let's go outside," she said.  
  
"It's cold out there!" he replied.  
  
"So?"  
  
He shrugged, all right with the fact of being alone with her and he stood up, grabbing his crutches. They headed outside and he was once again grateful that she slowed down for him.  
  
When they got outside, they sat down against the tree, Bakura with some help from Alex. They sat in silence for a few minutes, staring at the gray sky. Soon, white flecks could be seen falling to the ground.  
  
"Oh, great. It's snowing," Alex groaned, holding up a hand to catch a few flakes. "This'll be fun to walk home in."  
  
"I'd walk with you, but under the circumstances," Bakura said, nodding towards his leg.  
  
"Eh, that's fine. You take the bus. I've walked home in worse than this," she said, shrugging and putting her hand back down by her side.  
  
He looked at her, staring at the sky with a disgusted expression, and his stomach began to quiver again. He couldn't stand it any more. He looked straight ahead and held his breath a moment. Then, his heart pounding furiously, he moved his hand around the ground beside him until it found hers.  
  
She felt him take her hand and in the same moment felt her stomach leap. In two seconds flat she connected all the dots... his constant blushing... the odd looks he had been giving her... Suddenly she became aware of her own feelings... feelings for him. Without thinking she grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him into a kiss.  
  
When Bakura felt her lips touch his, his heart practically stopped. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.  
  
As he kissed her she felt herself succumbing to his control. He seemed to know exactly how to touch her as he gently carressed her shoulders and back. He ran his fingers lightly down her spine and it sent a delicious shiver through her body.  
  
There was something about the way he kissed her that made her feel things she had never felt before. An emotion she wasn't used to. It was much more than mere attraction. She had serious feelings for him.  
  
She slowly loosened her grip on his shirt and her arms made their way around his neck. He was making her heart pound in her chest and she was enjoying it. She never wanted him to let go of her. And in a way, he wouldn't. Even after his arms let go, he would always have a hold on her heart.  
  
~ Guess I'm wishin' my life away,  
  
~ with these things I'll never say.  
  
~~~  
  
~THE END~  
  
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a/n: Whew... glad that's over. You don't know how hard it was to write the kissing scene. I don't usually like romance. So, why do I write it you ask? I have absolutely no idea. I'm serious! You can ask my best friend! She was there when I wrote the kissing scene because I needed her input. She's the romantic freak. I couldn't look at the screen while I typed it because I was blushing. Pathetic, I know, but it's true. When I reread it, it sounded so cheesy, even though my friend said it was really good. So, was it cheesy or good? Feel free to tell me if it's bad, I know that already. ^_^  
  
And now look out for the sequel: A Drastic Turn 


	24. Epilogue

a/n: Oh, sorry, I lied. There is the epilogue. heh heh... sorry about that.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
EPILOGUE...  
  
.  
  
For the first time, Alex studied herself in the bathroom mirror. - How do I look? - she wondered. - Oh my God! I'm going insane! Aaah... crap... - she thought, tearing her eyes away from her reflection. Her heart was pounding in anticipation and she shook her hands to get rid of some of the tension.  
  
"Alex, calm down. You've done this before, what's the difference? God... I'm going out of my mind," she said to herself.  
  
She opened the bathroom door and stepped out, her heart pounding in her ears.  
  
@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#@#  
  
Jade sighed as she poured herself a glass of water. Just another boring night at home. Alex was in her room and David was in his, doing his homework. She could go up and see if her brother needed help with his homework, but she wasn't as close with David as Alex seemed to be. He really looked up to her younger sister, and Alex's hatred for Jade seemed to rub off on him slightly. When the girls fought, David always took Alex's side if he was involved. It pained Jade so much to know that her siblings couldn't stand her. Sure, her brother was nice enough to her, but when Alex was around, he went straight to her side, leaving Jade in the dust.  
  
David had had problems with Alex in the past as well, though. He had hated it when Alex got into fights and begged her to stop it. He cried when she was expelled because she hit the prep. But despite that he admired her greatly. Jade remembered one of the latest conferences she'd had with his English teacher. His teacher had showed her an essay he'd written about a person he admired. That person had been Alex. He had described her in it and near the end had written, "When I get to be her age, I want to be just like her, except maybe with a little more patience."  
  
Jade remembered wishing she had been the one David had written about. For a little while she was jealous of Alex every time her brother would go to her side. She hadn't thought that Alex deserved his admiration. She always was nicer to him than to anyone else, but she still wasn't being a terribly good sister. She never came over to him and offered to help with his homework or smiled. But now, that had changed.  
  
Recently, Jade had seen Alex smile at David. Once again, her sister had brought tears to her eyes, making her wish she could make Alex smile as well as David. Her sister had changed so much since she met Bakura and it was all for the better. She had gotten called into the principal's office only once and her attitude had gotten much better. With every time Alex saw her new friend a little piece of the wall she had built around her heart seemed to crumble and fall away.  
  
Sighing, Jade snapped back into reality and walked into the living room. She sat down on the couch and took a sip of water as she heard someone thunder down the stairs. She looked over her shoulder to see Alex and her eyes bugged out as she sprayed her mouthful of water over the coffee table.  
  
"Alex!" Jade exclaimed, staring at her sister as she stood.  
  
"What?" Alex snapped back. She wore her hair loose around her shoulders and black eye make up. Her lips were glossy and were pursed in annoyance. She wore a black leather skirt that came down to a little above her knees with a form fitting black, long sleeved shirt. Her black boots came to just below her knees and had silver studs going down the length of each boot.  
  
Jade stared at Alex, who glared back. "You... you're wearing a skirt!" she exclaimed, stunned and unable to come up with anything else to say.  
  
"Oh, well spotted," Alex snapped, turning to go to the front door.  
  
"You never wear skirts!" Jade exclaimed as a car horn blared from outside. "Who's that? Wait... oh my God!"  
  
"What? Would you keep out of my life? This is my business, not yours," Alex said, glaring at her sister. As she brushed past her sister, Jade caught a familiar scent coming from her.  
  
Jade grabbed Alex's arm and pulled her towards her. "What are you doing?" Alex shrieked, hitting her sister's arm. Jade didn't let go, but bent her head slightly to Alex's neck and sniffed.  
  
"That's my perfume!" she exclaimed as Alex managed to wrench herself from her grip.  
  
"It is not! It's my shampoo. Why would I go near your crap?" Alex sneered, heading once more for the door.  
  
"Who's outside... Bakura?" Jade asked.  
  
"It's none of your business."  
  
Jade suddenly grinned. "Are you /dating/ him? You are, aren't you! Oh my God!"  
  
"Jade!" Alex yelled, annoyed. She slammed the front door behind her as Jade started to laugh.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Bakura sat outside, leaning out of his car window. - Alex... - he thought, slightly impatiently. He was dying to see her and smiled as he finally saw the front door open. His jaw dropped in amazement when he saw her choice of clothes. - And I thought she couldn't get any hotter! -  
  
He quickly closed his mouth as Alex came around the car and got in the passenger side. "Hey," she said, looking at him. She laughed as she saw him looking her up and down with wide eyes and a smile. Before he could say anything, she leaned over and kissed him, placing a hand on his cheek.  
  
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and added his own pressure to the kiss. They had intended it to be short, but it didn't work out quite that way. When they finally did pull away, Bakura checked his watch.  
  
"We'd better go, or we'll miss the movie," he said, putting the car in gear. - With any luck, we'll still miss the movie, even if we do make it on time. - "You smell nice by the way," he said, looking over his shoulder as he backed out of the driveway.  
  
Alex grinned as she leaned back in the seat. "It's Jade's," she said simply and they both laughed.  
  
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$  
  
David watched Bakura drive away with his sister and leaned his chin in his hands, a smile on his face. His window had given him a clear view of the driveway and the kiss Alex had shared with Bakura. David remained at his window for a while after they had left, replaying the way Alex had smiled over and over in his head. He was so happy that now his sister was. She had spent far too long in misery and she deserved to have someone like Bakura. He wished that he would find the girl that was just right for him, just like Bakura was perfect for his sister. He knew now more than ever that he wanted to be just like Alex... with her luck as well.  
  
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a/n: Now /that/ was the end. Promise! lol Tell me what you thought of it, kay, and now I will begin work on the sequel. ^_^  
  
Ciao!  
  
~Greenwood~ 


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